A Modern Fairy Tale
by Vikki-n-Saya
Summary: Chapter 8 up! A fic mostly by DemonSaya. Inuyasha promised to find Kagome in the future ... but since it's Inuyasha, things don't turn out exactly as planned! Rated for a few bad words.
1. Chapter 1: Tears are the Rain of the So...

Completely FUBARed Chapter 1: Tears are the Rain of the Soul By:DemonSaya (See our Bio for Disclaimer, Flame policy, and other useless crap)  
  
In general, it had been a very bad week. Kagome's glum thought was reiterated by a crash of thunder, and then, once again by a succession of sneezes from various people she was traveling with. One belonged to Kagome herself, which-in her mind-proved just how miserable her week had been.  
  
On top of not being at home, in bed, with a warm cup of chicken noodle soup, she was here, trudging through the mud, soaked to the bone, and shivering from the icy chill of the rain. Yes, this week had been very bad. Not only had it been raining for two consecutive days, but also she could have been at a ski resort, with her friends this entire week, with no thoughts of demons, or the Shikon no Tama, or even of Inuyasha. She could have been warm. But NO. She was here.  
  
With a heavy, tired sigh, she dreamed of hot cocoa, warm fires and cozy blankets.  
  
Inuyasha heard the sigh and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He could tell she was cold. Hell, he could practically hear her teeth chattering over the rain and the squelching sound their feet were making in the thick mud. He frowned a bit and tried to lend her some of his body heat without her or anyone else noticing. There was only one way he could and still be considered him. With a sigh and a growl, he pulled off his haori-the only thing that kept him from being soaked through- and passed it to her. "Weakling humans." He grumbled.  
  
Kagome gratefully took the coat and wrapped it tightly around herself. His body heat was still all over the inside of it, and it stopped her shivering.barely.  
  
Miroku watched this gesture, and wasn't fooled by the irritation in Inuyasha's voice. He raised his voice to be heard over the torrential rain. "Perhaps we should stop for the night."  
  
"Stopping wont get anything done." Inuyasha growled from ahead of them.  
  
"It will keep going Kagome-sama and Sango-sama from getting sick." Miroku said evenly, even bluntly.  
  
This caused Inuyasha to noticeably twitch. He growled deep in his chest, realizing the monk was right. If they didn't find shelter soon, they would ALL wind up sick. Kagome and Sango had already developed sneezes, as had Shippou. With another growl, accompanied by a swift curse, he continued trudging. "We'll stop as soon as we find some place." He growled. "And it probably wont be a mansion." He added, giving the monk a look of contempt.  
  
Miroku pretended to be insulted. "Hmph." He shrugged, then, hearing a sneeze from beside him, he looked towards Sango in concern. "Sango-sama.?  
  
She ignored him, still following Inuyasha, every inch the proud warrior. Miroku smiled a bit and then pulled off his own gi, handing it to her. "Here." He said, putting it around her shoulders. "It should keep out some of the cold.  
  
She glared at him, but didn't object.  
  
Kagome sighed in relief as a building came into view. It wasn't a mansion, not even as big as Kaede's hut. Yet, it would provide shelter, and if they got a good fire going, warmth as well. Her stomach gave a rumble and she recalled they'd bypassed lunch. She heard something that almost sounded like laughter come from her white haired companion.  
  
He looked over at her, his eyes almost glowing with amusement. "I heard that." He said evenly, then pushed the door of the shack open. It was empty, and smelled faintly musty, but to the soaked humans and demons, it was a step away from heaven. Even Inuyasha was somewhat relieved to be out of the rain  
  
Kagome dropped her bag and immediately pulled out some dry clothes for her and towels for everyone as well. They thanked her, except for Inuyasha, who merely grunted, as usual. She shook her head and changed underneath Inuyasha's still miraculously dry coat. Idly she wondered how on EARTH it didn't even feel damp, especially when even her 'water proofed' clothing was still soaked through.  
  
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Miroku bickered over who was going to get off their ass and get a fire started. Finally, Sango got sick of it and shot them a glare that said, in few words that if they didn't get their asses moving, she was going to use them as kindling. The boys worked together.  
  
A few moments later, they were sitting around a warm fire, each holding a cup of ramen, and drawing the warmth from both. Kagome's sneezes had died down a bit when they decided they probably should try to get some sleep. Yet, as they began to get ready for bed, Kagome felt a strange and familiar prickling at the back of her neck. She froze, her eyes widening. "I sense the presence of a shikon shard." She said in a very quiet and tremulous voice. She glanced over to Inuyasha who's ears were pricked up and he was sniffing the air, but obviously because of the rain, he couldn't smell who it was. "And it's not a small shard." She clarified, watching as his eyes shot wide, then narrowed dangerously.  
  
"Naraku." He snarled, his claws cracking. Without a word, he stood, retrieving his haori and putting it back on, his face serious. "Kagome, you stay IN here. Sango, stay with her." He looked at Miroku, who nodded grimly, then stood.  
  
"If he comes close, we'll fight him. If he doesn't, we're going after him- "  
  
"No!" Kagome insisted. "You guys can't run off by yourselves!" She jumped to her feet along with Sango. "I've been willing to wait behind with weaker demons, but we both know that Naraku is strong!" She paused. "Besides. You fight better with me there." She gave him a look that dared him to deny it. She watched the emotions play on his face and knew the moment he was going to give in.  
  
"Try to keep up." He growled. "I know how tired your feeble human legs get."  
  
Kagome ran out of the building followed closely by Sango, Shippou and the tiny Kirara. Inuyasha kept a close eye on her as she hurried towards him, till she was less than a meter from him, then turned on his heal in the mud and began to walk.  
  
It didn't take long. A minute of walking in the rain, and the sky began to darken, and a man in a soaked baboon pelt stood down the empty street about half a mile. In his arms was a corpse, with long black hair, and a red and white priestesses outfit.  
  
Inuyasha froze as he realized who the woman was. He felt Kagome slam into his back at the abruptness of his halt but ignored it. He couldn't pull his eyes from the dead woman. His lips parted and soundlessly formed her name. "Ki.kyo." He whispered finally, the shock hitting him so badly his knees almost gave out.  
  
Kagome barely managed to keep him up, by catching his arm. She saw her previous incarnate and knew what had hurt him so badly. Gently, she gave his arm a gentle squeeze. When the shock wore off and he stood at his full height, she released him.  
  
Naraku smirked at Inuyasha through the rain. "Came to give her your last regards?" He asked, then dropped the body, which hit the ground and landed with a splash. When the mud settled, all that was left was a pile of mud and bones. His eyes glinted in the dark air.  
  
She felt him growl and held onto his arm. "Don't." She whispered.  
  
He ripped his sleeve from her arm and stalked towards Naraku. "So.you finally decide to show your own face, rather than using substitutes?" He growled, his eyes ablaze with anger, his hands tightly fisted. "I guess it really is about time for us to finish this once and for all."  
  
Naraku chuckled evilly. "Kukuku." He slung the pelt away, preparing himself. He knew that Inuyasha was a juvenile fighter. This would be a fight easily won.  
  
Kagome felt hands gently tugging her towards the side of the street. She let them, but never pulled her eyes from Inuyasha. It was no secret; after all, that she loved him. Even he knew she cared for him. Yet, sometimes, he could be so STUPID! Worry tore at her heart as she watched them face each other for a very long minute. For a moment, Kagome pictured one of those cheesy American westerns with the gunfights. However, when her mind jerked back to reality, it wasn't because of a gunshot, it was a soft grunt of pain. She let out a tiny cry, seeing Inuyasha sprawled a few meters back from Naraku, clutching his arm in pain.  
  
"Your attacks are sloppy and easily read." Naraku said coldly, then, smirked again as Inuyasha drew his sword. "And very juvenile.If you lived another five hundred years, you.might be able to beat me."  
  
Kagome stepped towards the fight. "He's just baiting you, Inuyasha!" She cried, her voice worried. Yet, the white haired hanyou didn't even look in her direction. Instead, he powered up his sword and charged again, the tip dragging a deep slash in the mud. She watched as he slashed upwards, leaving his side wide open for an attack. She looked away just in time. She heard Sango gasp and Miroku call out to her friend and the man she loved more than anything. The man she'd given up a ski trip for. The man she'd grudgingly accepted their trek through the mud and rain for.  
  
The man she knew was going to die.  
  
She forced herself to open her eyes and saw him laying ten yards away, practically at her feet. A soft cry escaped her and she jerked away from Miroku, running towards him. She skidded her knees in the mud, dropping down beside him. "Inuyasha." She croaked out his name through the lump in her throat, reaching down to pet his beautiful silvery white hair. "Oh, Inuyasha, please, stop."  
  
He opened his eyes, his expression pained, but determined. "If I do, we'll just go through this later." He said, forcing himself to his feet. He flung his heavy sword over his shoulder, his eyes showing the pain he was in.  
  
She watched helplessly as he attacked Naraku again, and again, he was thrown back, got up and did it again. This wasn't getting them anywhere. She felt fat tears rolling down her face again, and desperately tried to reach him. "Stop! Inuyasha, you have to STOP! He'll KILL YOU!"  
  
Inuyasha didn't hear her pleading. He kept mindlessly attacking. He kept seeing Kikyou falling, and her body becoming one with the earth, then he saw Kagome in Kikyou's place, and knew that if he did stop, as she begged him to, she would die, too. He didn't want that. He would never want that. She was the first person to ever trust him, despite knowing what he was, despite his attempts to kill her. In spite of everything he'd done to her, she wanted to protect him, but if he stopped fighting now, they were all as good as dead.  
  
Naraku caught Inuyasha by the wrist and punched him in the head, striking his temple hard enough to make the hanyou's vision spin and blacken around the edges. Then, a well-placed foot sent him sliding through the mud, back at Kagome's feet. He was still conscious, but barely. He knew he wouldn't be able to get up again. He'd failed them.  
  
Kagome let out a soft cry, noting how still he was laying, noting the blood trickling down his temple and lip, and how his eyes were closed. She felt her lower lip tremble and uncontrollable tears began to fall down her face. "No." She whispered. "No." He's not dead.she told herself. He can't die.he's Inuyasha. He's just hurting.we have to get him out of here, to get him back to the hut so I can treat his wounds.He'll be okay.  
  
Inuyasha heard her crying over him, but couldn't muster the strength to speak. It hurt to breath, to move, to speak, or even open his eyes. Even the beat of his heart caused spasms of pain to rip through his body. He felt warm hands on his face and felt the patter of rain. He'd always loved the rain. It usually felt warm and soothing. This rain was different. It was cold, and stung the bare skin it hit. The hands on him ran over his cheeks and he heard softly whispered words, smelled sweet breath brush his face.  
  
"No.please, no."  
  
"He's dead, girl." Naraku said evenly, laughter in his voice. "And you're next."  
  
I can't protect her.Inuyasha realized, his heart pounding. She's going to be killed and I can't prevent it! I have to stop him.but.it hurts so badly.is this how death feels?  
  
She grabbed her bow and arrows and stood, walking towards where Inuyasha had once stood, tears rolling down her face. She pulled an arrow, fitting it to the bow and lifting it. "You killed him." She whispered, her entire body shaking from the force of her sobs. Without another word, she pulled the arrow back and let it fly, striking mere inches away from him.  
  
He laughed his evil laugh once again, then began walking towards her as she fit another arrow onto the bowstring. "You will die, girl. Just as he is now dead, and Kikyou was dead fifty years ago. Aren't you going to save yourself?"  
  
She didn't release the arrow. Instead, she lowered the bow, her tears stopping. "If.If I die, then." She smiled weakly. "I'm not afraid of death." She said softly. "Because death means I get to be by his side."  
  
Inuyasha eyes snapped open. Did she care that much? She was willing to sacrifice her life to be with him? He watched as Naraku glared at her, then attacked. It took all of his strength, but he lunged upwards, snatching up his sword and made a mad dash for Kagome, getting in front of her just in time to block the blow, which would have killed her. "Keh." He panted, his breath fogging out in front of him. "You humans are so disgusting. Turning everything into a death scene.a tap like that only winded me for a second." He said.  
  
Kagome's eyes filled with tears again and she sighed in relief. "Inuyasha." She whispered, then threw her arms around him. "You're alive!"  
  
He snorted again. "Stand over there and watch how a real warrior fights." He said cockily, then waited till she was safe with Miroku and Sango before he began to attack again, however, this time, he was covering himself better. His mind also felt clearer than before. It was as if Kagome's words had awoken a part of him that had been dormant for years. A part that wanted to protect her.because she was his friend, because.he loved her.  
  
She held her breath as she watched the fight. He was moving a lot faster than before, and he seemed to be blocking a lot more of the hits that had been hitting him last time.  
  
Not only had Kagome noticed, but so had Naraku. The girl's words had strengthened the demon's resolve, hence strengthening the demon himself. The blows were becoming a lot harder for him to block, and after several minutes, he slipped up, and for the first time, left himself open.  
  
Inuyasha saw the opportunity and grasped it. It was becoming increasingly harder to breath, and also, he was finding his vision was fading. He had to end this quick. So, when he saw Naraku lose his balance slightly, he swung the sword down in a perfect arc, and the sword made a sickening sound as it sliced through the demon. He landed from the attack just behind the two halves, and stuck the sword into the ground, using it to keep himself on his legs. That was when he took stock of his injuries.  
  
His left arm was completely fractured, and hung limply at his side. Several rips were broken as well, and from the trouble he was having breathing, one had punctured a lung. His sword arm had a hairline fracture in it, and he could also feel from the pressure over his heart, that his breast and collarbones were broken. He also had a concussion, and a broken nose. In short, he was really beaten up.  
  
Kagome picked up the remaining portion of the Shikon no Tama and then went to Inuyasha. He looked like he'd been through hell, and she knew he was hurting badly. She touched the hand that rested on the sword and was about to put the Jewel in his palm when his voice stopped her.  
  
"Don't." He said, his voice tight. Labored. "I don't need it."  
  
"You earned it." She insisted.  
  
He looked up at her, trying to convey what he already knew. "I wont need it." He said grimly, his eyes piercing hers.  
  
Worry filled her. "You're going to be alright.we just need to treat the wounds." She said softly, her eyes trying to mask the pain with hope.  
  
He stopped her with a finger, wincing as he forced his right arm to move. "Kagome, I'm not going to live much longer." He said softly, seeing the pain and denial in her eyes. With a gentle hand, he brushed the wet hair from her face, ignoring Miroku and Sango's presence. "There's so much I wanted to say to you."  
  
"You'll get the chance!" She insisted.  
  
He smiled sadly, a true smile, not a smirk, or a grin, an honest-to-god smile. Then, he didn't try to keep up the pretense of being strong anymore, collapsing against her, his head resting on her shoulder, his arms limp at his sides. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly, lifting his right arm painfully to touch her face. He felt her arms come up and around him, then her shaking from silent sobs. He used his only usable hand to turn her face towards him and mustered up his last bit of strength and courage to lift his head and press a light, tender kiss to her lips. "Don't cry." He said firmly as he rested his head on her shoulder. "I WILL find you again, don't forget that. I'll be reborn.and I'll find you again. No matter what happens.I promise you." He felt his last strength flowing from him and heard softly whispered words in his ear that crashed through his brain like thunder and caused warmth in his heart like lightning.  
  
"I love you, Inuyasha." She whispered, pressing her face into his neck as his weight increased and she felt his last breath caress her cheek. Then, he was gone. She lifted her tear-stained face and looked up at Miroku and Sango, who looked down at her, pity and tears in their own eyes. "He's gone." She whispered, then she forced herself to smile through her tears. "I guess he's not so lonely anymore." She said, hugging him a little tighter.  
  
* * *  
  
Inuyasha's body was buried at the foot of the Goshinboku tree, and they had a quiet memorial in his honor. Kagome had picked the place herself. She explained that it was where she always found him. Afterwards, Kagome went home, the completed Shikon jewel around her neck. It hurt to say goodbye to her friends from there, but they understood that she had too many painful memories from there, and it was best for her to leave. So, she went home, and sank into something of a deep depression until finally, her mother decided enough was enough.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi came upstairs and entered her daughter's room, which was a total mess, and Kagome lay on an unmade bed, her eyes puffy and red from crying, her hair greasy, her clothing rumpled, her face pained. She sat on Kagome's bed and smoothed out the comforter. "Dear, did I ever tell you about after your father died?" She asked softly. Kagome was young enough when he'd died, coming back for Sota's birth, that she didn't remember him.  
  
Kagome shook her head.  
  
"I was crushed." She said softly, stroking her daughter's hair. "I was in a similar state you're in now. I wouldn't eat, or bathe, or sleep. All I could do was cry. Finally, my mother came to me, and did what I'm now going to do to you." With that, she picked up her daughter, went into the bathroom, where she had a full tub of water waiting and dumped her daughter in. "Take a bath, get your butt out of bed and get it back to school, because I swear girl, if you die on me, I'm never going to let you hear the end of it, and when you see Inuyasha in the afterlife, neither will he!"  
  
Kagome sputtered, staring at her mother in shock, unable to find the words to yell at her back, so finally, she began to cry again. That was a good way to release this sadness.  
  
Her mother's hand flashed out of nowhere and cracked her across the face. "Snap out of it." She said firmly. "If you don't, you're failing the person who gave his life for you."  
  
That shut the girl up. She sat in the tub with her clothes still on long after her mother had left. It was true. If she let herself stay in this rut, she'd be failing the person who'd saved her. She'd fail the person she loved. She couldn't do that, could she? It was so tempting to fall back into the despair, though. But hadn't he promised her he'd come back to her? Hadn't he sworn?  
  
With a firm nod, she got up, tossed off the now soaked clothes and proceeded to take a thorough bath, washing her hair three times just to get rid of the built up dirt and grease. Then, she soaped up good and rinsed off. It felt good to be clean again. It gave her a strange feeling of hope, in fact.  
  
With a small smile, she set about brushing her teeth and getting dressed into some clean clothes, then began to clean her messy room. Then, when her mom called up for dinner, she ran down and was seated before Sota and Grandpa were. They each hugged her when they saw her, and dinner went smoothly. Afterwards, Kagome volunteered herself for dish duty. Her mother didn't argue, but gave her daughter's temple a kiss as she passed. "It's good to have you back, Kagome-chan." She said, smiling.  
  
Kagome smiled back. It was good to be back.  
  
* * *  
  
School was the next day, not just any school, her first day of high school. Her grades were high enough she got into the top classes, and she idly wondered if Inuyasha would be proud of her.  
  
She and her friends chattered between classes, catching up. It turned out Sayuri was seeing Hojo-kun now, and Yuki was seeing some boy from another class. She was happy for her friends and they seemed glad that she was happier than she'd been the previous times they'd seen her after her illnesses.  
  
When lunch finally rolled around, Kagome was so eager to get some time to herself, she practically darted out of the room. After a few minutes of walking in one direction, then another, she realized she was totally lost and had no hope of finding the lunchroom unless she asked someone for help.  
  
She happened to run into one such person in her hurry to get food, and as she opened her mouth and looked up to apologize, the words stuck in her throat. She merely froze, staring up into the beautiful violet eyes of the boy standing in front of her.  
  
Author's Notes: Well, after this, it's yours, Vikki! Evil cut off, I know, readers, but I HAD to leave some of the fun for Vikki-chan! After all, if I didn't, what kind of friend would I be? The greatest thing about Round Robins is, the other writers don't know where the stories going to go until after the chapter before theirs is written. Vikki and I have, however planned out a few little things about the story. Keep an eye out for ritual habits and familiar faces! Things are about to get REALLY interesting. And also, unlike most reincarnation fics, we decided that the reincarnated forms would NOT be named after the original characters. So, you're REALLY going to have to pay attention to find out who's reincarnated, who's not, and who's getting drug along for the ride (The poor souls.) Oh, well, enjoy ^_^ 


	2. Chapter 2: Well, it Wasn't Over After A...

Chapter 2:  Well, it wasn't over after all

_By Vikki_

_Day 001 – Contact_

                "Hey!  Why don't you watch where you're going!?"

                Kagome wasn't listening.  She stared up into beautiful violet eyes and froze, before she allowed herself to search the face of the boy.  Small, pouty mouth; black hair pulled into a low ponytail; an expression that suggested a near-constant frown.  Almost as if he were the human form of—

                _No ... no no no no no.  It can't be.  In the stories it takes years for reincarnations to find each other!  But then, Inuyasha wasn't ever the romantic type …_

                The boy raised his eyebrows slightly and snapped, "What?"

                Kagome very nearly tipped over.  She allowed her mouth to fall open instead.  _Same tone of voice!  Same attitude!_

                _~I swear I'll find you …~_

It had to be him.  It just had to.

                She couldn't help it.  Kagome burst into tears of happiness, thrusting her face into the shirt of the poor high school student, and bawling, "Inuyasha!"

*   *   *

                His name was Tama Akuma, not 'Inuyasha' (whatever that was), and when this girl whom he definitely _didn't_ know grabbed his shirt and started crying into it, he was nonplussed to say the least.

                "H-hey!  Stop crying!  What's got you so upset?" he demanded, throwing up his hands as if to prove to anyone and everyone around that he was _not_ a pervert and he was _not _taking advantage of the situation.

                "I-I'm not crying!" stammered the girl, looking up at him with dark tear-filled eyes.  "These are tears of happiness, you jerk!"  She firmly wrapped her arms around Tama.  "You found me!  You … you promised and you found me!"

                Tama's hair attempted to stand on end in protest of gravity and failed miserably.

                Rikan tapped Tama on the shoulder.  "Hey, man, she isn't some kinda long-lost fiancée or anything like that, is she?  Because you know, we don't need another Furikan High-type deal going on around here …"

                "I don't know her!"  Tama attempted to detach the hysterical girl and instead found himself in an awkward position.  He gave up, red-faced with anger and embarrassment.  "What the hell are you talking about?  I didn't promise you anything!  Who are you?" he demanded of the girl.

                The bell rang.  It went completely unnoticed.

*   *   *

                Kagome registered the protests of Inuyasha's reincarnation on some remote level, but it took a few moments for it to hit home.  "I didn't promise you anything!  Who are you?"

                She pulled away, indignant.  The gall!  "You promised you'd find me, you jerk!  You gonna pretend that didn't happen now, just because there are people around?"  _Slap!_  She planted her hand neatly on his cheek.

                The boy with Inuyasha winced.  "Ooo … and you didn't even deserve that one …"

                There was a dramatic pause as Kagome glared at Inuyasha and Inuyasha stared at her for a long moment, before his expression got dark.  "What the hell was that for!?" he snapped at the same time as she exclaimed, "SIT!"

                "'Sit'?  What am I, a dog?"  Inuyasha snarled.

                Kagome opened her mouth to reply in the affirmative, then paused as she realized two things.  The first thing was just silly; Inuyasha's reincarnation didn't have the rosary donned, of course, so 'sit' would no longer have an effect.  But worse yet …

                _It's his _reincarnation._  Kagome, you dope!  This Inuyasha having memories of his old life would be like you remembering being Kikyou!_

                She looked at the boy's rapidly reddening cheek.  "Oh no …" she whispered.  "I'm so sorry!"

                "You oughtta be, bitch!" the reincarnation spat.  He glanced up at the clock.  "Dammit!  Class started already!"  He shot a venomous glare in her direction.  "Come on, Rikan."  He stalked haughtily off to class, Rikan not far behind him; Kagome stared after him, able to imagine his ears twitching in annoyance.  His 'I'm pissed' gait was exactly the same as it had been … before.

                "I've made a terrible mistake," she groaned.  Then she glanced at her watch.  "Yikes!  I'm seven minutes late!"

*   *   *

Kagome spent the rest of the day brooding over Inuyasha.  What the heck did she do now …?

*   *   *

                The question was answered for her during Physical Education.

                She was warming up for the high bar exercises when the baseball hit her on the head.  She felt dizzy for a moment, but otherwise fine, and so it was with a reasonably pleasant attitude that she picked up the ball and was about to toss it back into the baseball field when she realized the boy holding up his mitt to catch the aforementioned ball was Inuyasha's reincarnation.  His cheek was still a little red.

                She dropped the ball at her feet.

                The boy scowled for a moment, then his eyes widened with recognition and the scowl deepened.  "You!" he said accusatorily.

                Kagome picked up the ball sheepishly.  "Oh.  Um … hi again," she whispered, feeling herself blush.  "I'm really sorry about slapping you!" she blurted.  "I thought you were … somebody else," she finished uncomfortably.

                The boy looked uncomfortable for a moment.  "Look.  I don't … I've been slapped before, it's no big deal.  Just throw the ball over here, okay?"

                Kagome walked over instead.  "Um, my name is Kagome Higurashi, by the way," she said, shrugging.

                "I know, I got told," Inuyasha's reincarnation scowled.

                "What's yours?" Kagome asked as innocently as she could manage.

                "Tama Akuma," he said awkwardly, looking a little confused.  He opened his mouth as if he was about to say more, but someone shouted, "Akuma!  Get your butt over here, we need the ball!"

                Tama snatched the ball from Kagome's hand with quick fingers, muttered, "Thanks," and hurled the ball towards home plate.

                Kagome smiled and thought, _At least he has better manners than the first time we met._

                _Tama Akuma.  Demon jewel.  An oddly appropriate name.  Funny coincidence._

_                Or not …_

*   *   *

                "So what's up with you and that Higurashi girl?"

                Tama scowled.  "_Betsuni_."

                "There is no way you guys just met for the first time today.  Come on, man!  You can tell me!"

                "Hn."  Tama grunted rather than justifying _that_ little comment with an answer.  Rikan was about as trustworthy as a fox.

                "Come oooon …" he whined.

                "Shut.  Up."  Tama applied the Glare of Death™, and his classmate finally backed off.  Tama went back to wiping the chalkboard with the sponge and thinking about the strange girl.

                Kagome.  The name triggered something in him, but it was like trying to pinpoint the location of a fly in a fog by only following its humming wings.  Tama swiped the board and scowled a little more.

                It wasn't just the name, either.  The girl was a little … familiar-feeling, he supposed.  Cute, really – not that he'd say anything.  Trying to compliment a woman safely was like trying to feed an angry cat.  (Rikan liked to say he was shy, but Tama called it survival.)  Full of 'spunk', as his cousin would have said.  Pretty weird, though.  _No_, he corrected himself, _very extremely weird_.  _First she slaps me, then she acts like she wants to be my friend.  Ch', what am I supposed to do?  Turn her down?_

                He fingered his sore cheek.  _Geez.__  If my cousin notices this, I'll never hear the end of it.  Or worse … my second cousins._

*   *   *

_Day 002 – Making up_

                The next day, Kagome shouldered her backpack and marched out of her house like a woman with a mission.

                She was one.

                _I'm going to make friends with Inuya—Tama.  With Tama.  I'm not going to let a bad start stop me!  Besides … he didn't seem so mad when I gave him back the baseball, so there's hope._

                _I think._

*   *   *

                Tama stalked out of his house like a man with a mission (after sticking his tongue out at his obnoxious cousin and promising a beating to his youngest second cousin).

                He was one.

                _I'm going to find out what that Kagome girl wants and make her go away.  She makes me feel weird._

He'd dreamed about her.  In his dream, she was smiling at him with tears running down her face.  Her mouth had opened, and she was about to say something vitally important … when he woke up.  _A weird dream about a weird girl_, he decided.

                Tama had a reputation as a troublemaker, a poor student, and a serious lack of understanding in the girls department.  Truth was, Tama had a low tolerance for insults (or excessive stupidity), a … _misunderstanding_ with the Japanese language, and no experience with girls except for his second cousin, who was still a little girl anyway.  Kagome was a whole new department for him; apparently more so after Rikan had filled him in on the gossip.

                "She's pretty tough, and really smart.  She was sick almost all the time last year, but she still passed the exams to get into our high school no sweat.  Akuma, if she's got a crush on you, you'd better watch out!" he'd laughed.

                "I think she's mistaken me for somebody else," Tama grumbled.

                "Come on.  You'd have had a thousand girlfriends if you only knew how to handle girls," Rikan pointed out.  "I mean, they all seem to think you're cute enough, anyway—"

                "Shut up," Tama snapped.

                Rikan ignored him.  "And they want to go out with you—"

                "Shut up!"

                "—But then you stick your foot in your mouth first thing, and they slap you, and that's that," Rikan finished triumphantly.

                Tama resisted the urge to whack Rikan a good one.  On the head.  Like the stupid _kitsune_ he was—

                "Gotta go," Rikan laughed, taking off towards his house.

                _Why is he my friend?_  Tama wondered yet again.

                Kagome was different, all right.

                Tama wasn't sure he liked it, yet.

                But at least she was different.

*   *   *

                Kagome stood by the gate of the school, waiting and hoping that Tama would get there later than she had so she could catch him before class.  She shifted her backpack to her other shoulder impatiently and pondered how much lighter her backpack felt after lugging around everything (really) in the Sengoku.

                About ten minutes before classes began, she spotted him, walking in a sulky way towards the school, his hair pulled back the same way it had been the day before.  She waved her hand in the air.  "Inu-uh, Akuma-kun!  _Ohayou gozaimashita!_"

                Tama looked up sharply and his scowl deepened, but he didn't say anything.

                "Akuma-kun!"  Kagome hurried over.  "Nice to see you today.  You're not still mad about the slapping thing, are you?" she asked nervously.

                Tama looked away, haughty and nonchalant at the same time.  "No," he said simply.

                "Oh.  Good." She smiled, and watched as he watched her smile.  He looked away quickly.  "How are you?"

                "Fine," Tama began confusedly, but then his face hardened and he snapped, "What the hell do you want, anyway?  First thing you do is slap me silly, then you wanna act like we can be friends and everything's fine!"

                Kagome smiled sweetly.  "I want to be friends.  That's all," she said honestly.

                In the approximately ten minutes of time she'd spent with this reincarnation, Kagome had come to the conclusion that Tama Akuma was rather like Inuyasha before she'd gotten to know him – brash, fierce, and prickly, but kind of hurt inside and far more forgiving under his guards.  (Of course, maybe that was too much analysis for ten minutes, but still.)  It was almost like starting at square one …

                But just like the human side of Inuyasha in the Sengoku, Tama was far gentler at the edges than his former _hanyou_ self.

                Tama looked nonplussed before his scowl settled again.  "Uh-huh.  Why?"

                "Because … because you seem like a nice guy," she said brightly.

                Now Tama gave her a look that said _you're pushing the limits of sanity_.  Oops.  "Where did you hear that?  Because whatever else I am, I. Am. Not. Nice."  He made a fist at his side and his knuckles popped, a la Inuyasha's claw attack.

                _Think fast, Kagome._  "Oh, so you're going to hit a girl to prove it?  What's wrong with wanting to be friends anyway?"

                "You act weird and you make me feel weird and there's absolutely no reason for you to want to be friends with me.  I called you a bitch," he snapped.  Suddenly he looked like a light bulb went off in his head.  "You're one of those airheads who reads my cousin's books, aren't you?  You just want to meet my cousin, don't you?"

                "I'm _not_ an airhead," Kagome said angrily, "and I don't even know who your cousin is!  I just want to get to know you better!"

                "Why!?"

                "Why not!?"

                There was a long pause while Tama and Kagome stared each other down.

                "You still going to hit me?" Kagome asked quietly when the glares had softened.

                "I couldn't hit you anyway," Tama said flatly, letting his hand relax.

                Kagome smiled again, ghosts of memories of fights with Inuyasha rising in her mind.  At least this one hadn't ended in a name-calling war.  "Will you let me be your friend?  That first time we met, it was a misunderstanding.  A bad one.  Can we forget that and try again?"

                Tama bared his teeth a little, a skeleton of a smile.  "You won't leave me alone until I say yes, will you?" he asked.

                "No," Kagome said firmly.

                "Then, 'yes'."  Tama stuck out his hand awkwardly.  "_Ore__ wa Akuma Tama da.__  Anata no namae wa …?_"

                "_Higurashi Kagome desu.__  Yoroshiku_," she smiled, taking a moment to register that his hand, offered in the American fashion, was supposed to be shaken.  "_Arigatou._"

                "_Dou istashimashite,_" Tama rubbed his head in embarrassment.

*   *   *

                Kagome came home that day humming happily.  "_Tadaima!_"

"_Okaeri nasai!_"  Her mother smiled.  "See?  Aren't you glad I made you go to school?  You're doing much better," she exclaimed happily.

                "Yeah.  Thanks, _'kaa-san_!" She hugged her mother tightly and skipped up the stairs.

                _Things are going to work out just fine._

*   *   *

_Day 013 – Getting reacquainted_

                "So you're from America?"

                "Sort of."

                Kagome and Tama were sitting under a tree during lunch.  (Rikan used to join them at first, but lately he'd joked that he felt like a third wheel and dodged Tama's fist expertly.)  In an effort to get to know this reincarnation of Inuyasha better, after 'making up' Kagome had latched onto him whenever she had the chance and asked him questions mercilessly.  Eventually (as she had proven the day before) this would result in an explosion of annoyance and his retreat into the higher branches of a tree.  However, most of the time, while remaining quietly (or not-so-quietly) haughty and constantly stiff, he'd answer her questions reluctantly, and even ask a few of his own.

                "What do you mean, 'sort of'?  Either you're from America or you're not," she protested.

                "My mom was from America.  My father was Japanese.  I lived in America until I was 12 and then I moved here," he said before stuffing another mouthful of instant ramen into his mouth.  (Inuyasha's taste for instant ramen seemed to have carried over into his reincarnation.)

                "That's pretty neat."  _I wonder why he said his father _was_ Japanese … _she almost asked, but a horrible thought – _maybe he died_ – stopped her.  "What's America like?"

                "It's really different from here," Tama said.  "Really … different."  He didn't elaborate at first, but suddenly he added, "You can't get corn on your pizzas there."

                Kagome laughed.  "That's weird."

                "You mean you like corn on your pizza?"

                "Who doesn't?"

                "_You're_ the weird one," Tama grumbled, but he wisely said nothing more.  Kagome could explode with annoyance, too.

                "Oh, shush," she laughed.  She slowly sobered.

                "What's it like living at a shrine?" Tama asked eventually.

                "Oh, boring.  Not much different from anywhere else, I suppose, although it's less cramped," Kagome said gustily.  "Why?"

                "Just wondering."  Tama turned his attention back to his ramen.

                "You ever been to a Shinto shrine before, Tama?"

                Tama shrugged.

                "You haven't!"  Kagome was amazed.

                "It's not that big a deal," Tama protested.  "My cousin won't take me to one.  Who cares, anyway, it's not like I follow Shinto or anything."

                "No one should live in Japan without going to a Shinto shrine at least once," Kagome said authoritatively.  "Who's your cousin, anyway?  He seems kind of overpowering."

                "He is," Tama grumbled.  "I hate him."

                "No, you don't.  Is he your guardian while you're in Japan or something?"

                "Something like that," Tama said indifferently.  He punched his chopsticks through the Styrofoam instant ramen cup and tossed the packaging into a nearby trashcan like it was second nature.  "I live with him."

                "That's nice, I guess." Kagome folded up her bento box and put it away.  "Would you introduce me to him sometime?"

                "You _do_ want to meet him!" Tama threw her an accusatory look.

                "What is the big deal about your cousin?" demanded Kagome.  "Why do you make it seem like people use you to meet him?"

                "Because they do," Tama said darkly.  He made a fist and his knuckles cracked.  "He's a famous author, writes romance novels; every air-headed girl in the school's read them.  I'm surprised _you_ haven't."

                Kagome caught the double meaning, whether it was intended or not.  "What's _that _supposed to mean?" Kagome hissed.  "You saying I'm air-headed, you jerk?"

                Tama scowled at her.  "I never said that," he said hotly.

                "Yes, you did!  You said that every airhead's read them and you're surprised I haven't!  Isn't that what you said?"

                "Yeah, but—"

                "SIT!"

                "What?" Tama blinked at her.

                Kagome calmed down a bit.  "Sorry," she said, taking a deep breath.  "Relapse."

*   *   *

_Day 020 – Family_

                "I really would like to meet your cousin," Kagome confessed.

                "Why?"

                "Why not?"

                "Stop answering me like that."  Tama crossed his arms and looked disgruntled.

                Kagome cut off a giggle at how very like Inuyasha Tama looked at that moment.  "Maybe I could tell him to back off for you."

                "No, you couldn't."

                Kagome pouted prettily, an art that she'd perfected over the last few weeks for Tama's benefit.  He was more easily manipulated by tears and the like that even Inuyasha ever was.  "Pleeease take me to visit him?"

                "I never said no, did I?"

                Kagome resisted the urge to swat him.  "You never said 'yes', either!"

                Tama sighed.  "_Maybe_."

                _I guess that'll have to do for now_, Kagome thought with a mental shrug.  "Are you scared I'll like him or something?"

                "If you like _him,_" Tama said sharply, "then you're officially crazy.  I'll gladly kill you so you don't have to suffer through the insanity."

                Kagome stared at him, then burst into laughter at his perfectly straight face.  "I've never heard you tell a joke before.  You're very good at it," she managed.

                "I'm not joking," he said flatly.

                Kagome stopped laughing.

*   *   *

                "I can't believe I'm taking you to meet my cousin," Tama groaned.

                "Oh come on.  If he's half as bad as you make him out to be, I'll be either whacking him repeatedly on the head or running home screaming, so I don't know what you're complaining about.  You know I wouldn't take any crap from him," Kagome said.

                "Yeah, I know," Tama scowled, rubbing the bump on his head that proved Kagome took no crap from anybody.  "Doesn't change the fact that I'm—" he paused.  "Well, here it is."

                It was definitely a nice apartment complex, Kagome observed.

                It seemed nicer still when they entered the lobby.

                The elevator played classical music rather than campy J-pop.  The elevator lady greeted Tama by name and punched the button for the top floor.

                Apparently, they had the whole floor to themselves; there was only one door in the hallway.  Tama unlocked it and called, "_Tadaima_," reluctantly.

                "Tama.  How was school?" said a familiar voice.  Kagome frowned.  Where did she know that voice from …?

                "_Ch'_, like you really care," Tama accused under his breath.  "I brought home a friend," he said aloud.

                "Oh, really?"  Now that there was an arch tone of superiority in the voice, it sounded even _more_ familiar.  Kagome began to have a bad feeling.  "I'll be out in just a moment."

                The door to the left opened.  A majestic figure stepped out.

                "Oh my god …" Kagome gasped quietly, staring at him.

                "Why, it's you," said Sesshoumaru.

*   *   *


	3. Chapter 3: Babysitting is Hell

Completely FUBARed

Chapter 3:  Babysitting is Hell

By:  Demonsaya

*   *   *

"Why, it's you," said Sesshoumaru.

*   *   *

Ah, yes, it was indeed the older full demon brother of Akuma-kun's previous reincarnation, Inuyasha.  There were a few minor differences, such as his hair was a hell of a lot shorter, brushing the shoulders of his white button-down shirt.  Another difference was, his markings were covered up, obviously by a thin layer of natural makeup.  Expensive stuff, too, since you couldn't see them at ALL.  On top of all this, he was wearing reading glasses and had an earring in his right ear.

Kagome stared for several seconds then opened her mouth and yelled.  No, better make that screamed.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  She screamed, her eyes tightly closed, hands fisted, mind refusing to believe this.  When she ran out of air, she inhaled, and did it all over again.  She didn't notice the two males in the room with her covering their ears.  

It was hard to tell who was worse off from her screaming.  Tama stood right beside her, whereas Sesshoumaru had that evil demonic hearing that his younger, hanyou brother had also had.  On top of this, Kagome had a movie-star style scream that pierces the ears and the brain at the same time.

"Jeeze!  Quit yer shrieking bitch!"  Tama cried, covering his poor ears.  "YOU'RE the one who wanted to meet him!"

Sesshoumaru looked between the pair.  "Meet, or … meat?"  He asked, making a suggestive hand gesture that made both adolescents turn a shade of red that would have rivaled Inuyasha's gi if it still existed in the world today.

Kagome stopped screaming and stared at the demon in disbelief.  This was way too much for her brain to handle in such a short time.  First finding out that Inuyasha's reincarnation is going to her school, next that his guardian is none other than that very same hanyou's scary older brother was bad enough, but Sesshoumaru cracking dirty jokes was TOO much.

Meanwhile, Tama was wondering what his cousin was THINKING.  "Dammit, Datsu!  What the hell are you DOING?!  How the hell do you two know each other?!"  He was always thrown off guard by his cousin's dirty sense of humor.  Each time the nearly stoic novelist said something like that, it totally messed with his poor mind.

'Datsu' whapped Tama on the back of his head.  "She's my biggest fan, you dolt."

Kagome recognized the look on Tama's face.  She'd seen it on Inuyasha's enough to know it very well.  He felt betrayed.  "N-"  She stopped when a soft voice whispered in her head to play along.  She looked at Sesshoumaru in shock and closed her mouth.

Tama glared at her, his violet eyes darkening.  He'd never felt this betrayed in his life.  He'd honestly convinced himself that she wasn't like those other girls trying to use him.  But he had just been lying to himself.  "So…"  He said slowly, his hand balling into a fist and cracking as he did so.  "You really were just using me to meet him…"  He turned away from both of them, his posture stiff.  "Che…Girls really are all the same…"  He grumbled, then stormed off.

"N-no!"  Kagome objected finally, trying to follow him.  She had to explain to him that it wasn't what he thought.  She really wanted to be his friend!  It didn't have anything to do with his bro-cousin!  She was pulled to a halt by a dangerously clawed hand with purple stripes on it.

"Let him go.  He'll get over it, besides, we need to talk."  Sesshoumaru's voice was quite serious, as was his face.  For that reason alone, she knew he was right.  "Step into my office."

She did as she was told, hurt, dazed and VERY confused.

After the thick, oak, and probably soundproof door was closed, Sesshoumaru moved towards a large rosewood desk on which rested a computer, fax, scanner, phone and a bunch of other things Kagome had only seen in movies, and certainly didn't imagine she'd ever own.  After he sat in the padded swivel chair, he looked at her squarely.  "Please excuse that little assumption I made.  We needed a plausible excuse."

She remained silent as he typed something on his screen, then returned his gaze to her.  "I provided one.  Tama doesn't remember anything from his previous life, and he wouldn't believe us if we tried to explain it to him right now.  Perhaps at a later time…he'll be willing to accept the truth, but right now, he's had enough problems.

Sitting in one of the wing-backed Queen Anne chairs, she bit her lip.  "Okay, if we're going to continue with this story, at least tell him you mistook me for my mom?"  She phrased it as a question, but she was boiling underneath.  It had taken her weeks to get him to open up to her a little, and now he thinks she's one of those airheads who reads his cousin's books.

He arched an eyebrow.  "Perhaps…"  He allowed, not sure what he was reading from her posture, and unable to read her thoughts.  She was either completely calm, or she was hiding from him very well.

She took a deep breath.  He'd asked for it.  "I've spent a month, trying to be his friend, and trying to get him to open up to me a bit, and you blew it in 10 SECONDS!"  She shrieked, jumping to her feet and resting her fists on the desk, leaning towards him so he got the full effect of her anger.  "So you DAMN WELL BETTER!!!"

When she was done, he uncovered his ears, his eyes showing his annoyance.  "Could you stop doing that?"

*                                   *                                   *

Tama watched her go into his cousin's office from the hallway.  "Keh…lying bitch…" He grumbled, leaning against the wall.  She was probably one of those girls hoping to get inside his cousin's pants.  It would never happen.  Datsu only brought classy women home to sleep with.  He snorted, and turned on his heal, prepared to storm to his room.  What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

  
It was a nightmare.  A nightmare that was approximately 3.5 feet tall, with bright golden eyes and pure red hair.  In his hand was a can of a vile and evil substance that he always had.

Tama managed to utter one obscenity before he was sprayed from head to toe in the horrible, sticky, evil that was silly string.  It clung to his black hair and face and worse, his only remaining, clean school uniform.  He stood there for a moment, his eyebrow twitching while the boy giggled and took off.  He tore down the hall after the kid.  "DAMN YOU, GAKI!  I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

*                                   *                                   *

Sesshoumaru, who'd regained a portion of his hearing, leaned back in his chair  "First, you should know I'm now known as Akuma Datsuzoku, the Romance Novelist, to humans."  At her look of disbelief, he almost smirked.  "Sesshoumaru is a suspicious name in this time.  It's my pen name, so people know me as that.  When I adopted Tama, I gave him my name."

She nodded stiffly.  "Okay, I understand that…"  She allowed.

"Why did I adopt him?"  He asked, grinning.  "If the little shit is reborn, someone has to keep him out of trouble."  Kagome glared at him and he relented.  "Actually, I believe I owe it to father, and even to Inuyasha.  Call it…a debt.  Inuyasha could have killed me when he learned the secret of the cutting wind, but didn't."

She nodded again.  Although she didn't think he thought things this far through, she was relieved he wasn't going to try to kill her favorite hanyou's reincarnation.

"To demon's, however, I am still Sesshoumaru, Great Demon of the Western Lands.  Tama doesn't know about this and I have no intention of telling him until it is absolutely necessary.  I hope it is never that bad."

"I guessed as much."

The demon lord opened his mouth to say something else, when the door slamming open cut him off.  Kagome looked over her shoulder and almost giggled.  Tama was covered in purple silly string, and was wearing a very pissed expression.  When his eyes landed on her, they narrowed.

"Do something about him or I will…"  Tama said slowly.

Sesshoumaru glanced out of the room, and was ready to kill both the boy that hung in Tama's grasp and the boy that held him.  "Put him down Tama…"  He said evenly, his eyes serious.  "I will handle it."

Tama dropped the kid, his face highly pissed.

The boy popped up, looking guilty.  "It was just a joke…I don't know why he gets so pissed when I do it…"  He attempted to look innocent, but Kagome saw through the whole façade.

"Tama, go get cleaned up.  We'll send this uniform to the cleaners as well…"  He gave Kagome an apologetic look.  "This will have to continue later, Higurashi-san.  I'm sorry about the misunderstanding.  Give your mother my regards."  As if on an afterthought, he explained.  "Family business.  Tama, see her to the door."

He grunted, walking along side her towards the door.  He refused to look at her the entire way and grudgingly opened the door for her.

"Um…see you tomorrow?"  She said, her hands shaking, praying he'd forgive her for the little deception later.

He looked towards her and saw the sadness on her face.  He shrugged and glanced away again.  "I guess."  He gave in a little, but not totally.  He'd grill Datsu about her later.

Kagome smiled, nodding, and on impulse, gave him a quick hug, not caring if she got silly string on herself.  She left the poor, shell-shocked boy standing with his hand on the door, the apartment a wreck behind him, his hair standing out in different directions.

When he finally recovered, he shook his head.  What the hell was that?!

*                                   *                                   *

As Tama prepared for school the next day, he more than slightly dreaded seeing Kagome again.  It seemed every time they saw each other they wound up in an argument.  It couldn't be healthy, after all, he and Rikan never have arguments like this.  The urge to brain your best friend is perfectly normal…or so he'd been told.  He grumbled as he buttoned the collar of his jacket, his eyes irritated.  Everything had to look just so before he left, or Datsu would never let him leave the house.

"Old pain in the ass…"  He grunted, tugging at the high collar.  It was shit like this that made him miss America.  With a sigh, he went towards the door, opening it a crack and peaking out to make sure no Gaki were in the vicinity.  It was clear, meaning Datsu had instilled the fear of death in that little brat he called a son.  Datsu had three children.  The oldest was named Tarou, and was 17, looking exactly like his father.  He was rather quiet and snobbish sometimes.  He lived in the dorms at University.  The middle child was a girl who had the ability to turn any living thing into mush just by smiling.  Her name was Yukino.  The youngest was Koji, a eight year old terror to anyone who the brat wanted to terrorize.  Tama was his favorite target.

He passed his guardian, and stopped when he heard his name.  "What d'ya want…"  He grumbled.

"I need you to babysit the two youngest tonight."  He said in a voice that offered no way out.  It had already been decided that Tama would be designated babysitter.

"Wh-What?!  You expect me to keep that spawn of satan under control?!  Gimme a break!  Hire a babysitter!"  Tama objected loudly.  "You CAN'T expect me to do this!"

"You made a wreck of my clean apartment.  You are going to baby-sit.  Consider it punishment."

He realized how futile it was to argue the situation, and promptly shut up.  "Can I at least bring someone to give me a hand?!"

Datsu paused and an evil grin passed over his face.  "Certainly…"

Tama did NOT like that smile.

*                                   *                                   *

Kagome sat with her friends at lunch for the first time in ages, mainly because she'd been bulldozed into it.  She nibbled from her bento, her mind on other people, places and times.

"Kagome.  Earth to Kagome.  Come in, Kagome."  Yuki teased, leaning towards her and passing a hand in front of her eyes.

She blinked out of her daze, looking at her friends, one new addition being Hojo, who'd pursued her most of her middle school career, till he got asked out by Sayuri.

"I swear, Kagome, you're so spaced out, are you okay?"  Maya tilted her head to the side in worry, gnawing on her nails.  "I've never seen you like this.  It's like you're in another world."

Sayuri sat close enough to Hojo that they held hands, and looked good and cozy.  She smiled at her friend and winked.  "She's day dreaming about Akuma-kun."  She teased, resting her chin on her other palm.

Kagome blushed, shaking her head.  "It's not like that really…he's just my friend…"  

Meanwhile, said 'friend' appeared directly behind her, his lips frowning deeply.  "Help."  He said simply.

All five of them stared at the frustrated and obviously irritated boy, and blinked.  "Akuma-kun?"  Kagome asked, blinking in confusion.  Even when Inuyasha had been at his most worried, he NEVER asked for help.  Shaking her head, she stood, and excused herself.  He was wearing that expression he always wore when he did something he considered distasteful and just plain wrong in front of other people.

Several of her friends whispered encouragement to her, and winked.  She blushed and walked away quickly.  "What's wrong?"  She asked evenly, keeping her expression like they were talking about something trivial, like the weather.

"My cousin wants me to baby-sit his kids."  He said stiffly.  "That gaki from yesterday is one of them.  He's a handful for one person, and there's another child, a daughter, too, and I can't handle this by myself…I might kill 'em…" 

She sighed heavily.  "What happened to your best friend, Rikan?"  She arched an eyebrow.

"Um…last time he helped, we both became marker boards while we were napping."  He explained stiffly.  "In short, he ran in the other direction like a dickless coward."

She blinked, shook her head and finally let out laughing.  She saw the irritation on his face, and waved her hand.  "I'm sorry, but it's too funny…I mean…it's just two kids…how bad could it be?"

He gave her a look that said…if only you knew…

*                                   *                                   *

Kagome walked alongside Tama, who was in a decidedly grumpy mood with his jacket unbuttoned and his hands clasping his bag behind his head.  She'd been telling him she HAD to stop by her house to get some stuff, but he assured her, she wouldn't need it.  When they got there, the great demon was just leaving.

"Ah, I see you brought Higurashi-san with you…"  He said, smiling sympathetically.  "Your dinner should be here shortly.  Make sure Koji doesn't have any sugar, or he'll be up all night.  Yukino shouldn't be a problem."  He patted Kagome on the shoulder.  "Good luck."  He said so only she could hear him.

She nodded, wondering why on earth he'd just wished her luck.  The reason became clear quickly when a little red-haired boy jumped from behind the couch and sprayed them in silly string.  This time, it was electric green and neon pink.  Kagome gasped, managing to cover her face just in time.

Tama had no such luck.  He stood there, covered once again in silly string and gave Kagome a look that plainly said 'told ya'.   He curled his hands into fists and pressed both against each other, cracking all ten knuckles at once.  He turned towards the brat who happened to be laughing his ass of and rolling around on the ground.  "Okay, kid, you're dead this time.  No dad to cover for your little ass…"

Koji jumped up and promptly ran out of the room as fast as humanly possible.  Hell, the kid was a demon, better made that demonically possible.

Kagome watched this with a dazed expression on her face and in time with a much younger girl's voice she said…

"Boy's are weird."  
  


She looked towards the young, pink haired and eyed girl in surprise.  Her face looked annoyed and much more mature than her younger brothers.  Her hair was pulled back half-way into a poly-anna and was all curls.  She was absolutely adorable.

Kagome blushed, pulling the silly string off her now soiled uniform.  "Um…can you point me to the bathroom?"  She asked faintly.

The girl nodded brightly, leading her down the hall.  They stopped in a rather huge, white marble bathroom that made Kagome's eyes almost gape out of their sockets.  It was western-style, but she'd never seen anything so incredible in her life.  It quickly reminded her why her time was preferable to Inuyasha's.

"I'll go get you some clothes.  Onii-chan should have a robe laying around somewhere that's clean."  The girl ran out of the bathroom,

Kagome shrugged, undressed, and stepped in the shower.  There was a sweet smelling shampoo and she decidedly picked that one and the nicest soap she could find (if she was put through this by Sesshoumaru's kid, she figured he owed her this much).  When the door opened, she peeked out, then slammed the shower door shut.  "KYA!  Didn't you hear the water running you baka?!"

Meanwhile, Tama glanced towards the shower and shrugged.  "Whatever, okay, I need a bath too."  He grumbled, tossing off his clothes and climbing into the bathtub, across the room from her.  He glared towards the shower, reclining in the tub.  "I warned you about this."  He said evenly.  "The kids a demon.  He never listens to what anyone says to him.  Except maybe Datsu."

Kagome chewed on her lower lip.  "Hn…I'm really sorry about the other day.  I didn't realize that he was your b-cousin…"  She shook her head harshly, beginning to clean off the stuff.  Unfortunately, getting silly string wet only makes it harder to remove from hair.  She sighed, giving up.  She'd have to take another bath when she gets home.  She sat on the floor of the shower stall and shut off the water.  "My mom sort of knows him.  He…does business at our shrine occasionally…"  She looked at her hands, feeling strange because she was lying to him.

"Sou ka…"  He looked up at the ceiling, pulling the string from his hair.  "Ne, Kagome…"

"Hm?"

"Who is this guy, Inuyasha?"  He glanced towards the shower and turned slightly pink.  She was sitting in the stall, leaning back against the pebbled glass door.  She had a nice figure, he decided, then quickly whacked himself for thinking something so stupid.  He still didn't know what she wanted with him.

"He was…"  She stopped herself.  "A very good friend of mine.  I liked him…a lot…But something happened…and he had to go away…"  She wiped away a tear.  "He…he promised me he'd come back…he said he'd find me…"  She laughed softly, shaking her head.  "You sort of look like him now and then."  She stopped herself.  "Sorry…I shouldn't unload my problems on you."

He shook his head.  "No…it's okay, I guess…"  He opened his mouth to say something else, but the door opened revealing Yukino with two robes.  

"Kagome-san, onii-chan, I brought you some robes…"  She handed a robe and towel around the door to Kagome, and placed Tama's beside the sink.  Then, she gave Tama a cute smile and disappeared.

Kagome dried herself inside the stall and pulled the robe around her.  Covered, and very pleased with being so, she stepped out of the shower, finding her companion of the moment also dried and robed.  In an identical robe.

Tama looked completely confused, probably because he was.  Kagome was wearing one of his own robes, made of terrycloth, and embroidered with TA.  He looked away quickly, pretending he didn't notice, and that wasn't a blush spreading across his face.  He picked up his clothing and dropped them in the hamper.  When he turned, Kagome's were bundled up in her arms.  She looked rather upset.  "What's wrong?"  He grumbled, walking towards the door.

"This is my only uniform."  She said evenly.

He froze and frowned deeply.  It was her problem, it wasn't his.  He walked out of the room, glaring at Koji on the way.  "You're gonna pay for this, brat."  He said, the slammed the door of his room.

Kagome left the bathroom, and the boy crept towards her.  She gave him a stern look and he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry."  He said softly.  His father HAD taught him to treat ladies with respect, and she was obviously a lady, and a very pretty one at that.

Kagome blinked, then smiled.  "It's okay.  I'll just have mom get me one tomorrow.  Do you and your sister want to hear a story?"

The girl appeared behind her younger brother, and both nodded.

*                                   *                                   *

Tama found the trio sitting on the couch in the living room, Kagome telling the children a story.  To his amazement, both kids listened in rapt silence.  He walked into the room, and stared from her to the kids.  She just shrugged at him, and went on with the story.  She was still wearing the robe.

He frowned deeply and handed her some clothes.  "You should change.  Datsu's gonna be home soon and if he finds you in one of my robes, he's gonna get entirely the wrong idea."  He turned, then walked into Sesshoumaru's office.

The little girl squeeled.  "Fuka is coming home!!"

Koji jumped up and down on the couch.  "Fuka!"

Kagome blinked, then went into the bathroom, changing quickly.  When she came out, Sesshoumaru had returned and looked amazed.  "Okaeri nasai, Akuma-san."  She said softly.

"How did you do it?"  He asked, staring at her.

She shrugged.  "I offered to tell them a story."  She bowed slightly and left.

Sesshoumaru watched her leave, then turned towards Tama.  "Don't' screw things up with her."

"Just what the hell are you implying."  He glared at the demon.

"Just…"  Sesshoumaru waved a hand and turned, heading towards his office.  "Invite her back next time I ask you to baby-sit.  She's a lot better with children than you are."

"OI!"

*                                   *                                   *

"Say, what did Akuma need help with last night?"

Kagome looked up from her lunch, looking towards them.  "He had to baby-sit his cousin's kids…they're sort of a hand full…"

They nodded.  "Sou…"

"Yo, Kagome-chan!"  A voice called out.

She looked up and saw Rikan running up, Tama drug reluctantly in tow.  "Rikan, Akuma-kun…"

"Mind if we join you?"  Rikan asked, winking at her.

All of the girls blushed.  Kagome nodded, and Rikan plopped down on one side of her, leaving the only open space at her other side.  Tama was forced to sit there.  Both blushed and obviously avoided eye contact while trying to be discreet.

Each of Kagome's friends looked at each other.  Oh, yeah.  There was DEFFINATELY something going on here…

*                                   *                                   *

Author's Notes:  Neee, what do you think of this chapter?  Vikki-chan wanted me to end it where she could delve into the other's thoughts so we could reveal some of the other character's identities.  Things are all going to be down hill from here on in.  Goodluck!  Love and kisses, DemonSaya-chan


	4. Chapter 4: About a Girl

Completely Fubared

Chapter 4: About a Girl

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"DO NOT!"

"Tama, just get over it and admit you like her. I mean it's obvious." Rikan sat down at his desk, grinning over at his irritated friend.

"Keh." Tama said, glaring away from the other boy. "What do you know?" He grumbled, pointedly ignoring Kagome as she came in.

He ran his hand through his short brown hair. "Come on, you fake ignoring her all the time, you practically break your neck so you're not caught looking at her." Rikan leaned towards him. "You know, it IS okay for you to have a girlfriend. You're only human."

He scowled at his so called friend. "I never see you hanging out with any stupid girls..."

"Are you kidding?" Rikan looked at him. Then realized the boy wasn't joking. "Tama...I have major jones for Maya, one of Kagome's friends. I've been putting moves on her since you and Kagome started becoming such a hot topic."

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Tama shouted at his friend, his temper finally snapping.

The class went silent. Kagome was staring at him. Her friends were staring at him. He felt a hot blush about to cover his cheeks and he ran out of the room. He didn't stop running till he was on the roof. "Stupid Rikan..." He grumbled.

He didn't know why he was so upset. After all, being an item with her wouldn't be a bad thing, right? She was the first person in this damn country to treat him with so much as an ounce of respect, and she really wasn't ugly. She was kinda cute...

GAH! Where did that come from! He grabbed the chain link fence and shook it as hard as he could.

Stupid girl. She made him feel weird. And he had a distinct feeling she wasn't always 100 honest with him. He really couldn't stand dishonesty. And this girl...she was just too hard to read...but there was just something about her. It was irritating and hard to place, but it was there. Dark and unsettling.

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts he didn't hear footsteps approach from behind. "Akuma-kun?"

He stiffened at the sound of her voice. He didn't look back at her. I don't like her...I DON'T like her... "What do ya want?"

She walked up next to him, leaning her back against the chain link fence and crossing one leg over the other. "I was just making sure you're okay." She said quietly. She glanced towards him and saw mixed emotions on his face. She shook her head. "The teacher's pretty pissed off right now. Rikan's in the hall for setting off 'the erruption of mount Vesuvias'..." She grinned at him.

He snorted, his mouth turning up into half a grin. "Good. He deserves it..." He muttered.

"You want to go get a drink or something?" She asked, looking at him. "It might help you relax a bit before returning to class..."

He jumped back away from her. "What for?" His looked like he didn't trust her.

She gave him a puzzled face. Where did that come from. "Because I thought you might need to unwind a bit. You seem a bit high strung today..." She shrugged. "If you don't want to, you can just tell me. No hard feelings." She lied through her teeth. If he didn't take her up on her offer, she was going to be very hurt.

He looked at her and frowned deeply. "Fine. But let's make one thing clear, okay! We're just friends. You better tell Rikan that too."

She blinked. That's what caused the blow-up? She shook her head, laughing silently. "Boys...are SO weird..." She laughed out loud. She looked up at Tama and smiled.

He scowled.

"What's wrong with having a girlfriend, anyways?"

"N-nothing..." Except I have absolutely no idea of what to do around girls and YOU make me feel weird.

She smiled and shook her head. "Tama, I'm a girl, right? And we're friends, right?"

"Yeah..." He gave in. "I guess so..."

"Then guess what..." She said, leaning towards him. "I AM your girlfriend. In the sense that I'm a girl and your friend."

He gave her a funny face. "You're weird..."

"You're the weird one." She said, and gestured for him to follow her and left the rooftop, an almost smiling Akuma Tama a short distance behind her...

* * *

After school, Kagome headed down the street with all of the girls in tow. She sighed, thinking she should visit her friends in Sengoku Jidai. She'd just made her decision when Maya glomped her.

"Kagome, we're going to the park for a picnic, wanna come?"

Kagome paused, and smiled awkwardly. Would her friends forgive her? She really should go visit them, besides, it had been ages since she went to his grave. "I...I can't."

Tama glanced towards her, frowning.

"Come on, everyone's gonna be there, we even convinced Tama to come!"

She blinked in suprise. Then her heart fell. "I have an engagement. Family thing. I'm sorry. How about tomorrow?"

The other's shrugged. "The park'll be too crowded. How about the beach?"

Rikan coyly put his arm around Maya's shoulders. "The beach sounds fun..." He smiled at her and caught her blushing furiously.

Kagome rolled her eyes. That boy was sneaky as a fox...

"Oi, Rikan, you're disgusting..." Tama grumbled, looking away.

Rikan stuck his tounge at him. "At least I can admit it when I like somebody."

"Shut up." The other boy scowled, looking away from his so called friend and caught Kagome looking at him. He fought off the urge to blush and found the most unintersting thing he could think of to stare at.

"Rikan, lay off." Hojo offered, holding hands with his girlfriend. "Not all guys are comfortable expressing themselves in front of girls."

"Shut up."

Kagome sighed, shaking her head. "You guys go ahead to your picnic today." She smiled at them, and headed towards her house. She sighed, jogging up the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!"

She paused, looking back in suprise. Tama was jogging up the stairs behind her. "Akuma-kun?"

He looked at her. "What?" He stopped, looking at her.

"Aren't you going on the picnic?"

He looked away. "Yeah, maybe..." He shrugged. "I mean, shouldn't I?"

She nodded. "I think you'll have fun...even if you don't admit it." She smiled, gesturing for him to follow her. "If you want you can come up. I probably wont be here long, but everybody's asking about you."

He looked at her suspiciously. "Why are they asking about me?"

"Because, they ask about ALL my friends, especially the ones that are boys." She said teasingly. "It's really no big deal. It's not like-"

"Inu-no-niichan?"

Kagome froze at those words. She saw her younger brother at the top of the stairs and waved her hands. "No, NO, Souta, this is Akuma Tama, remember?"

His eyes widened. "Oh!" He looked down. "Sorry." He started walking away. He looked a bit disappointed.

She looked at Tama apoligetically. "Maybe this isn't a good idea..." She said quietly. "I think the wounds may still be a bit too raw."

He frowned. What the hell was this girl talking about? He scoffed, looking away. "Look, I get that I look like this Inuyasha guy or whatever. You offered, and I hadn't accepted, so don't even worry about it."

She looked at him and almost smiled. She took a deep breath and acted on impulse. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Akuma-kun...for being my friend..."

He froze, unable to move. Suddenly, he had his arms full of girl and wasn't sure what to make of it, so he did what he always did. Threw up his hands to make sure everyone that passed by knew SHE was hugging HIM.

She pulled back and saw the terrified look on his face and shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow, Akuma-kun..." She flashed him a brilliant smile and ran up the stairs.

He caught his breath and tried to figure out why he suddenly felt warm. Then he realized he was blushing...again. "GAH! I wish she'd stop that!" He turned and quickly left the compound. But somewhere, deep down in a place he would NEVER admit existed, he honestly wished she would do it again. He glanced over his shoulder and watched her disappear up the steps. "Stupid girl...making me feel weird again..."

* * *

Kagome packed a small bag of treats to take with her and ran downstairs. Her mother was waiting, a concerned expression on her face. "Kagome, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, they're my friends, too." Kagome smiled brightly at her mom and hugged her. "I'll be back in the morning and then I'll be hanging out with my friends from school."

The older woman smiled. "Will there be boys there?"

She blushed. "Mom..."

"Well? Like a certain reincarnation of an old boyfriend?"

"Yes, he's going to be there." Kagome said shortly. "Along with his friend Rikan, who's trying to get with Maya, and Hojo, Sayuri's boyfriend." She sighed. "Yuki will be there, too." She started walking towards the door. "And by the way, mom, Inuyasha wasn't my boyfriend."

The woman laughed.

* * *

Sango sighed, leaning against the post. She was bored. She missed the adventure and excitement that came from traveling with Kagome and Inuyasha. Even bashing in the lecherous monks head was losing it's appeal. Maybe she should leave the village and go slay more demons.

"Ohayo, Sango-chan!"

She froze, then spun, joy filling her. "Kagome-chan!" She ran towards her, hope burning through her. Let's go kill something!

"I'm back for a bit. I have to leave tomorrow morning. I just thought I should visit and let everyone know I'm okay." She hugged the girl. "You look like you're going stir crazy..."

"Well ever since you left and Inuyasha..." She paused. "Well...you know...we've just been kinda sitting here...I guess since the houshi's friggin cured he doesn't feel the urge to roam beyond the reach of a beautiful woman..."

"KAGOME!"

Kagome gasped as a small ball of fur wrapped itself around her neck. "Oh, Shippou-chan..." She smiled. "I brought you some candy..."

The small group walked towards the village and entered Kaede's hut. Everyone inside looked up at her in shock and smiled. "Kagome-sama!"

"Ohayo!" It was good to be back, but there was a small pain in her heart that felt like it opened just a bit more with each passing moment in this time. She knew the pain began at the base of the Go Shinboku tree. When darkness finally came, she stood, walking from the hut, holding her bow and arrow, heading towards Inuyasha's final resting place.

Funny word for it, especially considering how little Inuyasha actually rested.

She picked wild flowers on the way, pulled a small jug of sake out as well as some inscence. She reached the base and looked at the fresh earth there. Carefully, she sprinkled sake on the grave and lit the inscence, finally kneeling and placing the flowers on the earth. "Ohayo, Inuyasha." She said softly.

No response, of course, the dead don't talk back...She smiled fondly, touching the earth. "I'm in school again. It's harder than I thought. Even though I love my time, I do miss how carefree I felt whenever I was here. I really do think that my happiest memories are here." She smiled. "But I have to make new memories, huh? I'm trying. I've already met your incarnation. His name is Akuma Tama..." She felt a bit odd, telling Inuyasha this. Yet, he deserved to know. Especially after what she'd said as he died in her arms. "He's alot like you, but at the same time, nothing like you at all. He seems very awkward, especially when it comes to girls. He's got your bad temper, your tendency to run off whenever irritated."

She sighed, laying down on the earth beside his grave. "Oh, Inuyasha, I miss you so much."

* * *

Tama walked into his apartment around nine, and at first was going to head to his room. He glanced towards the study and saw his cousin's light was on. He crept towards it, pressing his ear against the door. He was certain to keep extra quiet, since Datsu always seemed to know when he was trying to spy.

Evidentally he was preoccupied.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, it has come to our attention that Naraku has returned to the earthly plane."

There was a long silence. "Without the shikon no tama, we can't defeat him this time."

Another silence.

"Please Sesshoumaru-sama-"

"Shut up." Datsu's voice. "Inuyasha defeated that cretin without the help of the jewel."

Tama froze. Datsu knew Inuyasha? Something fishy was going on here.

"But sir, Inuyasha was different, you know that! He was..." Whispering.

"I know what he was. He was my brother." Datsu said irritably. Suddenly there was silence. "Tama, get in here, now."

He groaned. At least it took him longer to notice. He turned the doornob and walked in, looking at his cousin. "What, Datsu." The man glared at him.

"What have I told you about eavesdropping when I'm in my study?"

"Not to do it on pain of death."

"I'm going to amend that. Don't do it, or I tell Kagome and she can deal with you."

Tama opened his mouth, about to object.

"You all may leave. I must deal with this." The cloaked men and woman walked out, casting Tama disdainful looks. Tama growled at them and cracked his knuckles. They jumped, looked at each other and fled.

"Hmph." Tama sat in one of the previously occupied wing-back chairs. He looked at Datsu, waiting for him to start.

"How much of our discussion did you hear?"

"Somthing about a cretin named Naraku, whatever that is." He grumbled. He looked away.

"Then I assume you heard me mention Inuyasha."

Tama shrugged, uncomfortably. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Yes, Inuyasha was my brother. He was hot headed, arrogant, and a lousy fighter. But he was bad at giving up. Had something to do with that girl..." Datsu shook his head. "Now, Tama, I want you to understand, I can't and wont give you the whole story. You're not ready to know yet. When you are, both myself and Kagome will sit down and make light of it to you. We've both only got half of the story." He grinned, which always terrified Tama for some reason. "I'm afraid the more interesting portion is in Kagome's head."

"I just want to know one thing." Tama said evenly. "Kagome told me this Inuyasha guy went away. What really happened."

Datsu looked at the boy over the rim of his glasses. "You'll know soon enough. I'm afraid I can't share that with you." He looked at his watch. "Go to bed, Tama. It's getting late."

Tama scowled.


	5. Chapter 5: A Day at the Beach

Completely Fubared

Chapter 5: A Day at the Beach

Kagome sighed, packing the picnic lunch for the day at the beach. She really hoped Tama hadn't changed his mind about going along. After all, he could be as fickle as his previous incarnation. She smiled a bit, remembering waking up next to Inuyasha's grave with all her friends standing over her. For a moment, she thought she'd seen Inuyasha standing behind them, wearing a gentle smile, his eyes gentle.

She heard a knock at the door and wiped her hands, walking towards it. Sesshoumaru was standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"Tama was eavesdropping on my conversation with the other great demons. Inuyasha was mentioned. I'm afraid he's too much like his previous incarnation. Sticking his nose in where it wasn't needed."

Kagome frowned. "We need to tell him the truth."

"How did you feel knowing you were the incarnation of the boy you loved old love?"

She frowned. "But he needs to know."

"Bigger problem. Naraku has returned."

Ice filled Kagome's veins. "No...not again..." She felt like her knees were going to give. She closed her eyes breifly and when she opened them, they were filled with the fire of someone who'd already lost too much and wasn't going to let a speed bump like Naraku slow them down. She took a deep breath and looked at Sesshoumaru. "I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, however, I have plans. I'm going to the beach with my friends."

"I know." Sesshoumaru grinned. "I'm driving."

She froze.

"You are the guardian of the jewel and at the moment, most of the great demons, myself not included, feel very threatened by Naraku's return. They want the jewel." He looked at her. "My brother wouldn't let me hear the end of it in the after life it I let his favorite human die." He said dryly.

She sighed. With a shrug, she walked into the kitchen, finishing the picnic lunch and she lifted the heavy pack up with little trouble. She had to admit, even though it was a nasty shock to learn, she'd been expecting this for awhile. She'd been training. Anything she could think of. Her mother had bought her a small dart gun, like a small cross bow. It was fit into a small glove, and was easy to conceal. She'd learned some basic aikido, and had a better handle on her powers, able to manifest them when she wasn't in fear for her life. She'd learned basics, but she was not a well hewned warrior as Inuyasha had been and Sesshoumaru was.

When she walked back into the main room, her friends were all there, as well as Sesshoumaru's children. Tama leaned against the wall, looking decidedly grumpy. She figured she hadn't wanted 'Datsu' to come along. Her friends were fascinated with the great demon, cooing over him. Except Yuki, whom Sesshoumaru had, in fact been eyeing with a bit of interest.

Yuki noticed her and jumped up, throwing her arms around her. "KAGOME, HIROSHI-KUN DUMPED ME!" She sobbed, her bottom lip trembling.

Kagome gently patted her back. "It'll be okay, Yuki-chan. Come on, let's get out of here. The beach awaits!" She smiled at the girl, knowing her good moods were usually infectious.

Yuki wiped her tears, smiling a bit. "Yeah. Who needs that jerk anyways. If he can't see what a catch I am, it's his loss!"

"Exactly!" Kagome and the other girls ran towards the door. Kagome reached the top of the steps and stared down in shock. Down at the bottom was, for lack of a better word, a tour bus. She looked at Akuma Datsuzoku and arched an eyebrow. "Tour bus."

He grinned a bit. "Don't be so vulgar. I always travel in style."

Tama rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Datsu. Let's get a move on, alright." I need to get Kagome alone and grill her about Inuyasha. His eyes caught sight of an almost glowing pink ball around Kagome's neck and saw a look on Datsu's face that said now was not the time to ask about Kagome's past. He snorted, heading down the stairs and opening the door, waiting till everyone except him and his cousin had piled in. "What the hell is that bauble around her neck?"

Datsu smiled secretively. "Just a...Tama." He joked, getting on the bus while Akuma Tama fumed.

"THAT IS SO NOT FUNNY!"

lllllllllllllllllll

Kagome glanced towards Tama, who's mood seemed to be worsening, inspite of the sun and laughter and general good times being had by most. She walked towards him, sitting on the oversize blanket and looking at him. He seemed to be lost in thoughts that were growing increasingly dark. "Akuma-kun?"

"What the hell is the deal?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

He glared at her. "Inuyasha was your boyfriend or something, right?"

"Or something." She agreed. Boyfriend? No. Heartbreak was a better word for it.

"And he was Datsu's brother, right?"

"Half-brother..." She allowed. She saw the irritation on his face and knew where this was leading. He was going to grill her about Inuyasha and her relationship.

"So how come neither of you talk about him?" He growled.

She looked down at the jewel, resting against her chest and sighed. "Tama, sometimes wounds are too raw to prod. That's one of them. Talking about him...saying his name...it hurts very much, but I am trying to move on."

"I thought 'he said he'd come back'."

He was mocking her. Nothing annoyed her more than being mocked. She looked towards the surf and watched Hojo chasing Sayuri, Rikan flirting with Maya and Yuki sitting alone. "He did. Tama, please, let the subject drop. I know you know how it feels to have lost someone. Please, just let me have time."

He saw the sadness she was unable to hide and felt like a jerk. "I guess I press so hard because I might like you." He mumbled so quietly she almost couldn't hear him above the sound of the surf.

She looked at him in suprise and her heart skipped a beat.

He looked at her and quickly interceded. "But just as a friend!" He said, fear in his eyes.

She smiled, letting all her senses take in what was going on around her. Tama sitting near her, their fingertips just barely touching on the blanket, the wind in her hair, the salty smell of the water, the warmth of the sun. The prickle of a demon approaching. Her eyes snapped open and she felt a knot of fear in the pit of her stomach. Not today, please not today.

Tama held his breath waiting for her to say something, anything. When he saw the fear in her eyes, he wanted to kick himself. STUPID! Of course she wouldn't like you! You're not even all Japanese or all American! You're a stupid half-breed! (AN: Wow, doesn't that last one sound familiar?) He hadn't even noticed she'd been using his given name.

Kagome stood slowly, looking around, her sixth sense, the one that could feel demons was going haywire. And it wasn't because of Sesshoumaru and his kids. She felt the prescence of evil. She grabbed her dart gun glove out of her bag and put it on. "Tama, go get Datsu!" She said softly.

"What!" He complained.

"Don't argue with me, dammit, just do it!" She shoved him out of the way, just as sharp claws tore through where he'd once sat.

Tama stared at something that looked humanoid, save the red eyes, the green and blue hair, the fangs and claws. "What the hell!"

"Closer than you'd think, human..." It's eyes went to the jewel around Kagome's neck.

Kagome looked at it, firing a single dart at it. It turned bright pink as it flew through the air, striking it's arm. She grabbed Tama by the wrist and started running across the sand. "Come on, we have to find your b-COUSIN." She glanced behind her. Her friends were screaming, running like crazy. Except Rikan.

He'd crouched in a fighting posture. "Kagome! Go find that damn dog so we can get rid of this RAT!" He attacked and for the first time, Kagome realized why he felt so familiar. Blue fire surrounded his hands.

"Rikan?" Tama sounded weak.

"Run you idiot!"

Kagome tugged him along while Rikan fought the demon. As they were running, another demon arrived. It looked a bit like the other one. She stopped, pushing Tama behind her. "Tama, go find him or we're all dead!"

"The Shikon no Tama...finally we found it." It hissed. "Now we can return to our master and get our just rewards..."

Kagome balled her fists and they became bright pink, as the dart had earlier. She felt it coming towards her and moved out of the way. When her hands touched it, it's right side was disolved.

"SESSHOUMARU! SOME HELP WOULD BE NICE!" She screamed, dragging Tama through the sand as fast as she could.

Tama watched as his cousin appeared out of nowhere. He watched as he pulled off the glasses and stuck them in his pocket. He extended his well manicured hand and as Tama watched, the man that Tama knew as his cousin disappeared. With a few well placed slashes, the demons were gone.

Tama stood there in shock. "Um...am I the only one here who doesn't have a clue about what just happened?"

Kagome felt drained. Why today? Why when she finally has a chance at a normal life, the proverbial shit hit the fan...again! "Probably." She looked at Sesshoumaru, who's demonic characteristics were showing. "What took you so long?"

"I was getting your human friends out of danger, girl. You should be greatful." He looked at her with a twinge of his old disdain. "Shippou is enough against one, but there were eight waiting to come in at any moment."

"Shippou?" Tama looked from his cousin to his best friend, who now looked less like his friend and more like the demon's they'd just been fighting.

Kagome looked at Shippou and smiled a bit. "How long have you been covering for him?" She asked, thumbing Tama.

The fox demon scoffed. "Too damn long. God, it's so good to be out of that disguise!" He said, shaking his head. He bowed sweepingly to Kagome. "Did I grow up how you'd hoped?" He asked smiling.

"A million times over."

Tama's head felt like it was going to explode. Just when he thought he'd had enough, he got another suprise. The feel of his skin ripping. He gasped in shock and looked back, seeing an evil looking female smiling at him, a wicked expression on her face.

"Shi ne, Inuyasha..."

Kagome heard the name and turned, seeing the shock on Tama's face and watching as he fell to his knees. Blood trailed down the woman's claw and she disappeared. The girl ran toward him, putting her arms around him. "Tama! Tama, are you okay!" She felt warm, wet blood on her arm and felt lost once again.

Sesshoumaru scooped him up and looked towards Shippou. "Get the other's home. Make them think this was all a dream. NOW! HURRY! Kagome, come with me."

She felt the demon pick her up, and she blinked and they were already half way to the apartment. A moment later, he was setting Tama face down on the bed. "YUKINO, TAROU! IN HERE NOW!"

Kagome covered her ears. He was loud when he was authoritative...She gently took Tama's hand and looked at his pained face. "Tama, please say something..."

"This sucks..." He grunted.

She laughed through her tears, thinking if he could make comments like that, he shouldn't be dying. Gently, she wiped the splatter of blood from his face and leaned towards him, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. Moments later, the room was a buzz of activity, people trying to get the bleeding stopped, cleaned up, ect. Kagome herself had sewn the wound shut, being the only person here with any first aid training, thanks to Kaede.

It took almost three hours total.

Sesshoumaru left the room and called Kagome's family, leaving the two alone. There was a long, awkward silence. "I'm sorry, I should have noticed there was still one there..." Kagome said quietly, playing with the jewel.

"One what?" He asked roughly, looking away, feeling very weak. "What were those things? What the hell happened to Datsu and Rikan? Who the hell are Shippou and Sesshoumaru and Naraku! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

Kagome took a deep breath. She had to tell him. He was in the middle of it now, and she cared for him. She didn't want to lie to him anymore. "I've known your cousin for awhile. His name isn't Akuma Datsuzoku, that is an alias. His name is Sesshoumaru. He was Inuyasha's half-brother. I know this sounds crazy, but..." She looked at him and saw the expression on his face and felt dirty for lying this long. "Tama, he's a demon. A very powerful one. One known as a Great Demon. He is well over five hundred years old."

"A what?"

"Those things that attacked us were also demons, not as powerful as Sesshoumaru, but still strong." She shuddered. "Naraku is an EXTREMELY powerful one, whom I've crossed paths with before. The only person who ever managed to defeat him was...Inuyasha." She looked at her hands, feeling tears threatening.

Tama looked at her in disbelief. "And you're a what? Are you one too!"

"No, I'm human. I'm the protectress of the Shikon no Tama. My hand can purify it with a single touch. Rikan and Shippou are the same person as well. Shippou is a bit different, though. He's a fox demon, where as Sesshoumaru is a dog demon. Naraku...is a hanyou." She bit her lip, looking at him. When I first met them...I was 15. In fact, I met Inuyasha on my 15th birthday. But I also met him 500 years ago."

He looked at her, his face neutral. "Okay, I thought you might be when we met, but now I know it. You're mental."

"Hold your tongue, brat!" Sesshoumaru walked in, his stripes and crescent moon showing. "You could learn a thing or two from this girl. She's been through trials you could only dream of."

Tama stared at his cousin. "What do you care, Datsu-Sesshoumaru, whatever the hell YOUR FUCKING NAME IS!" He didn't say another word. The demon lord slapped him. HARD.

"Shut up and listen to her." He said firmly.

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru and then back to Tama. "There's a well on my property. It's old, I don't know how old, but it's old. It's called the bone gobbling well. In the feudal period, the people would dump the bones of demons into it and they would disappear within a few days. One day, a demon pulled me into the well and when I climbed out...I was five hundred years in the past. To make a long story short, I wound up accidentally destroying the jewel. Inuyasha and I didn't get along too well at first..."

"Cause you're a bitch." Tama muttered under his breath.

"Call me what you want, Tama. I've heard much worse from people far scarier than you." She said softly. "At the end...Inuyasha..." She couldn't continue. She had too much trouble talking about that day. It hurt too much.

Sesshoumaru picked up. "Inuyasha and Naraku were in a battle. Naraku was destroyed, but in the end, Inuyasha died as well."

Kagome nodded. She played with her fingers. "All for this stupid jewel." She stood. "Excuse me, I should go..." She turned to leave, but a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Your mother told me it would be better if you stayed here. If you return home and they attack again, your family will be put in harms way."

Kagome froze. Here. All night? No, she didn't think she could stay here with the cold look that was on Tama's face. She hung her head. "Fine." She said. She left the room and disappeared into the bathroom, locking herself in. She turned on the shower and undressed, getting in, finally letting her grief overwhelm her. Tears flowed down her face and her body was wracked with sobs. She had almost lost him again, today. Her outfit was covered in his blood, as was she. She sat under the showerhead, unable to control the shaking of her body.

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Tama glared at Sesshoumaru, his face filled with fury. "I'm not actually your cousin, am I?"

"No."

"Then what am I?"

"You, Akuma Tama, are the reincarnation of my brother, Inuyasha. Like it or not." The demon stood. "And if you think Kagome is just trying to be your friend because of that, why don't you ask her if she likes you because of him, or because of you?"

"Keh, like I care. She's just a stupid girl." He heard the demon leave and went to his door, locking it. He didn't want any company. All he could think was that everyone he'd ever cared about had lied to him. Rikan, Datsu, and Kagome. Angrily he slammed his fist against the wall, not caring about the pain that suddenly engulfed it.

There were somethings that just hurt worse than physical pain.


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected

Completely Fubared

Chapter 6: Unexpected

Kagome didn't sleep that night. She didn't remember feeling this bad since Inuyasha had died, and now her chances to be with him had died again. She sat on the couch, flipping channels all night, just wanting to go home so her mother could comfort her. She knew she shouldn't have lied to him.

As dawn began to touch the horizon, Kagome dozed from exhaustion. Yukino was the first one up. The girl entered the living room and looked at Kagome, a twinge of emotion on her young face. The girl gently tucked a blanket around her. "It's okay, Kagome-san." She said quietly. The girl disappeared into the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

Slowly, the family woke, including Tama, who stumbled out, bleary eyed. He hadn't slept much the previous evening either. He saw Kagome sleeping on the couch, tears still on her face. He felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly squashed it. He stalked into the kitchen and sat in his normal place, noticing there was no place setting for him. "Oi, Yukino?"

She ignored him.

He scowled. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Jerk." Koji muttered, coming in and sitting down across from Tama.

"Brat!" Tama countered.

"You have a funny way of thanking people who save your life." The third voice caused Tama to cringe.

"Tarou..." He grumbled, glaring at the older boy. Come to think of it, besides Kagome, he was the youngest person in the house. He scowled. "Keh. Like I would have died anyways."

Sesshoumaru entered the room, sitting at the head of the table regally. "Tama, Kagome will have your room for awhile. You will move into Koji's room, Koji will stay with his brother." He announced this like he was discussing the weather.

"Wh-WHAT!" Tama shouted. "Just because that bitch has to stay here-"

Tama never saw his hand move. Just all of a sudden, he was sliding across the kitchen floor, care of a finely clawed hand. "HEY!" He held his face, anger filling him.

"It is the least you could do for someone who saved your life, and probably will again before this ordeal is over!"

"Please stop yelling." Kagome said quietly. She entered the room, the blanket wrapped around her. She looked at Tama briefly then looked around the table. "I don't need anything done for me. I'm perfectly comfortable on the couch. I don't want to impose on you all. I already feel like I'm dragging you into my problems..." She sat down at the table, looking at her hands.

Tama snorted. "You know, it's funny, this girl shows up and she's immediately accepted into the family..." He snarled. "But me? I'm just that half-breed thing from America..." He laughed angrily. "You know what, you all give such a damn about her, keep her! I'm getting the fuck out of this hell hole!"

"No need, you jerk!" Kagome's temper finally snapped. "You know what! I've been going out of my way to be NICE to you! Trying to make you feel accepted! Which, by the way is a hell of alot more than you have EVER done for me! I can't take another moment of being here with any of this! I'm going back to the place where I'm actually cared about!" She pinned Tama down with a glare. "I give up, okay! Go back to your own personal hell! 'Everybody hates me, nobody gives a damn about me, I'm just some half-breed jerk who never gives anybody a CHANCE TO'!" She turned, storming out of the apartment.

Tama watched her go in shock. Everyone else was also suprised by her outburst. Kagome hadn't raised her voice since Inuyasha had died. Tarou looked at Tama and grinned. "You know, if you still hate her, I'll take her!"

Sesshoumaru looked at his son, wearing a disturbed expression. "That's sick, Tarou."

Tama scowled at the people at the table and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him as well.

Yukino uncovered her ears. "This is getting old..." She muttered, picking up her chopsticks and starting to eat her fish.

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Kagome was in tears as she left the apartment building. She took a deep breath, walking towards the gate. She saw Rikan outside. She smiled a bit. "Shippou-or should I call you Rikan?"

He nodded. "Rikan, now." He said, falling into step beside her. "Been awhile since I saw you so distressed. Have a fight with Tama?"

She looked towards him. "That easy to tell?"

"Hey, I did spend a good chunk of time with you and Inuyasha. Besides, I know the only reason you cry after yelling at him is because you like him." Rikan looked at her and smiled. "Hey, I better go, before Tama shows up."

"What?"

The fox demon grinned, blue eyes shining. "Hey, Inuyasha always came after you when you tried to go home, right?"

"Kagome, wait up, you dumb bitch!"

She froze at the words. Rikan was right. She watched the fox turn into a sign post as Tama caught up with her. She turned towards him, her anger with him resurfacing. "What do YOU want!" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Look..." He looked away. "I'm not saying I believe all that bull crap from last night, but...I guess you're kinda my friend..."

"Kinda!" She snapped. "Just like you 'MIGHT' like me?" She threw up her hands. "You know, Tama, I thought Inuyasha was lousy at expressing himself, but he had NOTHING on you!" She threw up her hands. "You know what, if you're trying to keep me from going home, just give it up."

He looked at her. "Look, Datsu told you if you go home and get attacked, your family could die!"

"I'm not going to get attacked!" She shouted, not caring that people were staring at the pair screaming at each other in the middle of the street.

"Stupid bitch, stop being so damn stubborn and come back inside!"

"NO I WONT COME BACK INSIDE! I HATE YOU!" She slapped her hands over her mouth, but the damage was already done.

The boy staggered backwards, staring at her in shock. He knew she just said it because she was angry, but he'd really thought that maybe they could be friends, even if she still loved his previous incarnation. "K-kagome?" He asked quietly.

She looked at him, then as a tear fell down her face, she broke into a run towards her home.

Rikan appeared next to Tama and shook his head. "You had to call her a bitch." He said quietly. "Don't worry about it Tama, I'll look after her, she'll be fine." He clapped his hand on his friends shoulder.

"She hates me?" Tama asked, looking towards the boy, fear in his eyes.

Rikan sighed. "Don't worry, man. I'm sure she didn't mean it. She's just upset." He ran after Kagome, finding her crumpled on the ground, about a block from her home, sobbing like her heart was broken.

Again.

He sighed, crouching next to her. "You okay?" He helped her up. She was a mess.

"Why did I say that? I don't hate him, Rikan!" She shook her head. "I was just so angry, I couldn't stop myself..."

"I know, Kagome, let's get you home, okay?" He helped her to the shrine, and let her mom put her too bed. The girl needed sleep, and to regain her strength, especially with Naraku sporting a new body. A female body. He'd recognized the stench when the demon tore Tama's flesh.

He hunkered down in the main room, a vigilant guard to the main mother figure during his young life.

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Tama walked through the streets aimlessly. He saw a barber shop and fingered his waist long hair, which was braided behind him. He got a determined look on his face and headed home. He stormed inside, past his cousins, and straight into his room.

"Tama, where's Kagome?" Datsu asked, once again looking like Datsu, rather than the demon that had violently slaughtered those demons that had attacked.

"She went home." He said in passing. He closed and locked the door, sitting at his desk. He dug through it for a moment, finding a pair of long, sharp shears. He took a deep breath, caressing his hair. He'd been growing it for almost ten years. It was his pride and joy. He had brutally argued with his cousin about cutting it when they moved here. He bit his lip, taking the scissors in one hand and...

Ten minutes later, Tama walked back out. He walked into Datsu's office and dropped the braided rope of hair onto his desk. The demon looked up at him in shock. The hair up top was still moderately long, but in the back, almost all the length had been taken off. "What is this?"

"I finally did it. Happy?" You long haired hippy. He managed to keep the thought from coming out of his mouth. The demon's jaw was hanging limply. "Donate it or something. Somebody must need that much hair, right?"

"Why may I ask? I'd finally accepted your vanity." He said evenly. He saw a twinge in the boy's eyes and knew it had something to do with the girl. "I see. What will you be telling the kids at school?"

He scoffed. "Don't read so far into it. I just felt like it." He stormed out of the room, and then the apartment.

He took a deep breath, letting his feet carry him towards Kagome's place. He reached the bottom step and stopped. He took a deep breath and walked up the stairs. He saw Rikan waiting for him at the top. The boy had a suprised expression on his face. "Well." He said, grinning. "This is a change."

Tama glared at him. "It doesn't have anything to do with her!" He lied through his teeth. "I'm putting her damn story to the test. Where's this well she was talking about!"

Rikan's eyes narrowed. "I don't know if you'll be able to get through without Kagome's help. The only two who could get through back then were her and Inuyasha." He shrugged. "It's this way, though." He walked towards the creepy well house, looking towards the base of Go Shinboku breifly.

Tama felt a chill as he passed the tree. He saw a wound in the tree and frowned deeply. "What is that?" He asked, pointing.

"That's where Kagome and Inuyasha met, and said goodbye." Rikan looked at it. "It's where we would wait for Kagome to come back so we could continue the mission." He pointed to the well house. "It's in there." He said evenly. He saw Tama staring at it and frowned. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go into it and see if she was telling the truth." He marched in and jumped into the well.

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Kagome walked outside just as Tama walked into the well house. She saw Rikan standing there, his arms crossed. "Rikan, what is he doing here!" She asked, not noticing his hair was gone.

"Proving something to himself, I think. I'm not sure what. He just went back in time, I think. He'll probably be back soon." Rikan looked at her and shrugged. "I give up trying to get what he's thinking." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should go after him."

She looked after him, frowning deeply. "I don't think I can."

Rikan grinned. "Sure you can. You're the only one he'll let in this time. I have a feeling that's why he went there. No one besides you can follow him."

She took a deep breath. "I'm scared." She looked towards Rikan, and saw him smiling. "What if he hates me now?" Yet, her feet were moving towards the well. She owed it to Tama. She owed him an apology. She jumped in, and felt the drop in her stomach as she was pulled into the slipstream of time. Her feet landed on the dirt at the other side of the well and she climbed out quickly.

This time was dangerous for someone who didn't know it. There were still demons, and this forest had a reputation for being somewhat infested. And Tama was still hurt. She ran towards the Gods tree and froze. He stood at the base, looking upwards, to where the tree was scarred. She approached slowly.

She drank in his appearance. His hair was short, yet when she'd last seen him, it was in a braid behind him. Had he cut it because of her? "Tama?" She called softly.

He froze, spinning towards her. His eyes started to get that irritated look in them and he crossed his arms. "Why did you follow me?" He asked.

"Tama, I'm sorry." She said, lowering her head. "I didn't mean it. I don't hate you." Swallow your pride, girl...she thought, lifting her eyes to his. "I'm sorry..."

His bubble burst, he collapsed to the ground in front of the tree. He put his face in his hands.

She walked towards him, feeling strange. This was where she had always found Inuyasha, and now, when she really needed to find Tama, here he was. Under Go Shimboku. She sat down beside him, searching for words. "Daisuki." She said softly. She bit her lip, looking towards him. He was staring at her with suprise on his face.

"Kagome?" He asked quietly. "Do you like me because I look like him?"

She stared at him, then she was laughing. "Tama, you haven't even seen a picture of Inuyasha. He only looked like you once a month." She shook her head. "Come on." She took his hand. "Let's go back. I have a job to do." She said quietly.

He watched her expression turn to one of fierce determination and felt a pang of admiration for the girl. She was strong, that was for sure.

Kagome knelt for one moment before leaving. She kissed her fingers and touched the dirt beneath the tree. "Goodbye, Inuyasha." She said quietly. "And thank you." She then led Tama back to the well.

"That was his...?"

She nodded. "We buried him there." She smiled sadly.

The pair headed back towards the well, hand in hand. When they got through, however, Tama dropped her hand like a hot potato.

She smiled, shaking her head. Then she felt a pain in the pit of her stomach. Demons. ALOT.

"Kagome?" He asked when she doubled over, holding her stomach.

"Tama..." She looked at him, then she ripped the jewel from her neck. "Take this. Go back to the other time. Stay there till I come get you!" She ordered.

"No need."

They looked up and saw Sesshoumaru standing there in all his great demon glory. "Come on out, children." The demon helped the pair out and Kagome stared at the carnage that sprawled across the compound.

"My family...?"

"They're fine. When Rikan called, I had them moved. I suspected this would happen if you returned here. Naraku didn't send these. They were the great demon of the South's goons. I warned them..." He snarled.

Tama looked around, horrified. "Why do they want this stupid thing so much?"

"It can give great power. But everyone wants to use it for the wrong reasons." Kagome frowned deeply. She walked through the grounds, feeling a tremendous amount of Jyaki. It made her want to gag. Nausea made her stomach churn and she felt another pang and collapsed to her knees, vomitting profusely. She recognized this feeling. It brought back twinges of fear that she could readily place. "Naraku was here..." She said, wiping her mouth.

The boy stood behind her. "How can you tell?" He asked, looking at her.

"Sixth sense...in a manner of speaking." She stood, feeling bile rising in her throat again. She looked at Sesshoumaru. "We need a plan."

Rikan walked out of the house, looking sick to his stomach. He was pretty much covered from head to toe with demon gore. "I think I agree." He said, wiping some of the nasty stuff off his face. He used to think human gore was the most disgusting thing, but now he was reminded of just how much gore a few demons could make.

Sesshoumaru looked at Tama. "We need to get back to the apartment before he changes anyways."

Kagome looked at Tama in confusion. "Huh?"

"It's his...time of the year."

"NANI!"

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They made it back to Sesshoumaru's apartment in time. As they got in the elevator, Kagome noticed a silvery tinge on the ends of Tama's hair. Her jaw hung open in shock as Tama became...well, for lack of a better word, Inuyasha.

Kagome wound up being helped into the apartment, due to her inability to walk. She heard crude comments coming out of Tarou's mouth about the 'partial' and looked at Sesshoumaru for clarification.

"Tama has a small fraction of demon blood. I didn't even know until I brought him to live here. He spends the small period of time each year in a partially demonized form." Sesshoumaru helped her sit on the couch. "It's a miniscule fraction, from his mother's side. Not enough to adjust his aging, but enough to make him stronger than most other humans."

Tama glared at his cousin, who was still making snide remarks. His eyes went back to Kagome who looked like she was either going to cry or laugh.

"How long does it last?"

The now hanyou boy harumphed. "Just over summer solstice." He grumbled. "I hate it." He complained.

She smiled weakly, still looking like she was going to cry. "Isn't this a coincidence." She said, beginning to laugh, a bit hysterically. "Inuyasha had his time of the month, where he would be a human, and Tama has his time of the year when he's a demon!" She was definately getting hysterical. She could tell. "And why not! I was a dead ringer for Kikyou, and we had similar powers, so why shouldn't Inuyasha's reincarnation have the same thing!"

Tama looked away, deciding that this couldn't have come at a worse moment. Here, just when he thinks Kagome's getting over that other guy, he has to go and remind her of him again. He felt two warm gentle hands clasp the fuzzy ears on top of his head and he saw Kagome standing over him, a strange expression on her face, as though she were reminising. He scowled. "Stop that." He grumbled.

"Hmph." Tarou snorted. "At least you have someone who appreciates those disgusting things."

Kagome's hands froze on them and she felt all the anger she'd ever felt at the people who'd treated the men she cared for like crap welling up inside her. She released his ears, turned on her heal, took two steps and punched Tarou in his pretty face.

Silence engulfed the room. Everyone stared at her in shock. Kagome was shaking with pent up fury. "Hanyou..." She spat the word out. "Disgusting...weak..." She glared at the offending party that was subject to her rage. "Do you know how many times I've heard that said to people I care about! Too many!" She had too many emotions flying through her right now. "I'm sick of it! If I hear that come out of anyone's mouth again, I swear to god, I'm going to beat them to within an inch of their life!"

Sesshoumaru shied away from her slightly, knowing that if it had been 500 years ago, the offending party on the ground probably would have been him. He had never seen the girl lash out at anyone physically when it wasn't a life or death situation, and this rage was new to him.

Koji hid behind Tama, as did Yukino, leaving Tarou directly in the path of her wrath. The demon scrambled back against the wall in shock. The small taste he'd recieved that morning aimed at Tama had not prepared him for the full force of her rage unleashed.

The rage left her and Kagome suddenly felt exhausted. She felt all her strength leave her and her world slowly went dark.

Tama saw what was happening. Her exhaustion had finally caught up with her. He jumped up, catching her as she began to fall backwards. "Kagome!"

She opened her eyes momentarily and smiled, slipping further into the darkness of unconsiousness. Inuyasha...She didn't say it, but when the gold eyes met hers, she felt all the love for him welling up inside her and she felt a tear fall down the side of her face.

Tama frowned, picking her up and carrying her out of the room. He carefully lay her against his bed and sat down in a chair, watching over her, uncertain what made him do that. There were still clippings of hair on the floor. He'd cut her hair because of this girl. He would go through hell for her and now he was wondering if these feelings for her weren't just because of his previous incarnation.

After all, Inuyasha must have loved her. "Who couldn't?" He asked himself quietly.

Sesshoumaru knocked on the open door and walked in. "Is she alright?" There was little emotion on his face.

"I think she's just sleeping." He said. "Alot of stuff happened today, she's worn out." He was silent for a long moment, and looked at his cousin. "Kagome said..." He paused, not sure he should confide in the jerk, but Sesshoumaru and Rikan were the only people who knew what happened back then. "Kagome said she loved Inuyasha...but they were just friends..."

Sesshoumaru looked at the boy, arching an eyebrow. "What's this sudden intrest in 'that bitch'?" He asked, teasingly. The boy gave him a dark look that said you bloody well know why I'm interested in her. "Inuyasha never developed the testicular fortitude to tell the girl he loved her as well. Even if it was obvious to everyone else, she didn't know. He died without telling her, and so she will never know how he really felt."

Tama looked a bit irritated. "Why do I have to be him reborn, anyways? If he's such a jerk, why is it my job to make up for him being an ass?"

"It's not." Sesshoumaru smirked. "No matter what you look like, Tama, you're not Inuyasha. Just like that girl isn't that dead witch Kikyou." The demon contemplated. "She was never meant to meet Inuyasha. They were never supposed to fall in love. She wasn't supposed to travel through the well. Fate played a cruel trick on that girl. And he continues it with you." The demon looked at his charge. "You should get some sleep too. We need to work out a plan in the morning. All the rooms, couch included are taken. Looks like you two get to share a room." He paused, glaring at the blushing boy. "Don't take advantage of that."

"Keh!" Tama snorted. "I'm not you." He said, closing the door behind his cousin. He took a deep breath and pulled out a spare blanket. Gently he placed it on Kagome and settled down on the small bed next to her. He was blushing furiously at how close they had to sleep, yet he wasn't about to sleep on the floor and have a crappy nights sleep. Her sweet scent filled his nose and he relaxed, drifting slowly off to sleep, unconsiously putting an arm protectively around her.

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AN: Well, incase you're wondering about what happened to Vikki, she quit writing the story, so it is now soley my responsibility. If it doesn't come out quite the way she planned, oh well. She didn't give enough of a damn to help finish so I'm working it alone. Hope you like the chapter. Enjoy! Love you crazys! Demonsaya


	7. Chapter 7: Planning and Practice

Completely Fubared

Chapter 7: Planning and Practice

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AN: As you can see, I'm experimenting with different things to separate the story. Since the astrics don't work, I'm going to try something different. Again. Hope you're enjoying the story. Thanks to all the people who've given me reviews, and to those that have got this story on alert and as a favorite! I love you all!

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Warm...She felt so warm. Kagome heard birds chirping sweetly, as if they were welcoming her back into the waking world. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw two drowsy gold ones looking at her. A blushed tried to cover her face, but she stopped it quickly. She forced herself to take in her surroundings before opening her mouth and saying something stupid. Something she'd probably regret.

Slowly, the memories of the night before caught up with her and she finally did blush, realizing she was in fact, laying on a bed with Tama, who had his arm slung around her waist, and whose face was just a few inches from her own.

"G'morning..." He mumbled sleepily. They had both slept like logs. He couldn't remember having such a good nights sleep since his mother died. Her scent still tickled his nose, just as strong as it had been the night before. Her eyes were wide, as though she were surprised to see him there. He sat up, looking away from her, hoping it would camouflage the blush on his face.

She smiled a bit, sitting, facing the other way. "It would have been okay if you'd set me on the couch, it's actually pretty comfortable."

"Hmph." He snorted, standing up. "Girls need there privacy. The only reason I was in here was because the couch got taken when I brought you in." He hoped she didn't ask why he slept on the bed with her.

A soft laugh emitted from her. "So says the boy who walked in on me while I was in the shower." She teased, glancing over her shoulder.

He blushed furiously, remembering the incident. "Look, I'll find you something to wear, okay. Go ahead and go get cleaned up. Datsu's gonna want to figure out this plan..."

Kagome stood up, looking at Tama's face. She saw the uncertainty in his eyes and a small smile played on the corners of her mouth. "Thank you, Tama." She said, leaning over and giving him a gentle hug. She felt him tense and saw a strange expression on his face.

"Why are you hugging me?" He asked, looking at her like she was from another planet.

She smiled. "Because every now and then, you look like you need one." She straightened, looking down at his slightly pink face. She felt a twinge of sadness at the lost look in his eyes, and gently brushed his bangs from his eyes. "Why don't you like being in this form?" She asked softly.

He looked away. "Because I look weird." He pushed her hands away.

She paused. "Wait a sec," She looked at him. "If you do this once a year, and you've been here awhile, didn't you think that maybe Datsu was a demon?"

"No." He said. "I pretty much ignored him. My mother explained it to me when I was young. She said that somewhere to hell and gone down the line a human 'mated' (whatever that means) with a demon. I was like 6th or 7th generation demon human mix. Mom got it twice a year, spring and autumn equinox." (AN: To those of you who aren't familiar with solstice, it's the first full moon of summer and winter, equinox, I think is the first full moon of spring and autumn.) He stood and began rummaging through his closet. "Usually I avoided him like the plague. Besides, what kinda demon would need reading glasses?" He snorted. "My vision is ten times better like this."

She giggled softly. "I think he just wears them to look more intelligent. You know, the nerd effect, 'instant nerd, just add glasses'?"

Tama snorted, then chuckled, then laughed.

Kagome stared at him. His laughter was quiet, pleasing to the ears, quite a bit different from Inuyasha's. She shook her head, wondering what Inuyasha would think of his future incarnate. After all, she and Kikyou had differed in many respects, due to the time they'd been raised in, which made her wonder how many other ways were Tama and Inuyasha different.

Tama turned around, tossing a red t-shirt and black drawstring pants onto the bed. "They may be a bit big, but they'll work." He saw her wearing a peculiar expression on her face and frowned, wondering if she was reminiscing again. He shooed her away. "Go on, go get cleaned up. There's a spare toothbrush in the medicine chest." He grumbled, looking anywhere but her.

She scooped up the clothes, and left the room, leaving Tama to dwell on this Inuyasha guy.

The boy changed his own clothes, looking in his mirror at the features that his demon form presented. His hair was silvery, similar to Tarou and Datsu's. His eyes had turned bright gold, and his nails had grown into, for lack of a better word, claws. He frowned deeply, his eyes moved to the top of his head, where the two pointy ears had emerged. With a deep frown, he reached up, clasping them, trying to hide them with his hair.

He noticed something snickering in his reflection and saw Tarou there. "Get out." He snarled.

"Look, kid, perhaps you don't get it." He said, walking towards him. "This isn't YOUR house. It's father's house. YOU get out."

"It may be Datsu's house." He said, glaring at the boy through the mirror. "But you're in my room, now get out."

"What's wrong, scared the girl might be looking at her old lover, rather than you?"

Tama froze, staring at the demon behind him. "What are you talking about?" He grumbled. He grabbed his comb, dragging it through his hair roughly. He pointedly kept his eyes off of Tarou.

"Didn't you know?" Tarou snorted. "Inuyasha was a hanyou. He had silver hair, gold eyes, like father, yet...he had two quirky dog ears on the top of his head."

Tama set down the comb, struggling with his emotions. "Tarou, get out of my room, or I'll throw you out."

"Like you could even touch me."

The boy proved him wrong. He swung around, punching Tarou in the face for the second time in under 24 hours. Just as Kagome walked in. Her hair was wet, and as he'd suspected, the clothes were more than a bit big on her. In fact, the ends of the pants had been rolled several times to keep her from tripping on them.

She looked from Tama, who looked furious, to Tarou, who looked shocked and realized she really didn't want to know. "When you boys are done..." She began, catching evil eyes from both of them and not caring. "Everyone else is waiting in the living room." She watched as Tama rubbed his fist, walking out of the room.

Tarou still sat there, shocked.

Kagome looked at him in irritation. "Tarou, you should stop being such a jerk to Tama. Especially since I'm sure you don't know him as well as you think you do." She paused before leaving. "Oh, yeah, and if you say some of those cruel things you just said to him again, you don't need to worry about being beat up by him." She grinned. "Because I'll do it." She followed after Tama, leaving Tarou to juggle the weight of her words.

Kagome arrived and most of the gentlemen in the room, specifically, Rikan, Koji and Tama jumped up, offering their seats. She smiled, shaking her head. "I'm okay. I rant better when I'm walking around..." She saw Tarou arrive and gave him a dark look that said in fewer words to keep his damn mouth shut.

Sesshoumaru sipped some tea. "Well, apparently, my earlier statement was partially correct and partially incorrect. Yes, the great demon of the south was in fact at you home, however, it looks like one of his toys includes Naraku."

Kagome put a hand in her face. "Great. Frigging fabulous. So basically, we don't just have to deal with a that little shit, Naraku, but we have to deal with a Great Demon..." She massaged her temples. She took a deep breath. "My archery's good, but not that good. I was still having trouble hitting fast moving targets when I left Sengoku Jidai." She complained, shaking her head.

Tama sat back and listened. He didn't know all the details revolving around the whole great demon thing, much less about this weirdo Naraku. He shook his head. "Okay, quick question. How much stronger than Naraku is a Great Demon?"

Kagome looked towards him and sighed. "When we fought him last-"

"Um, I'd like to abridge that." Rikan said, looking towards Kagome. "Sorry for interrupting." He looked at the floor. "First off, Naraku isn't a HE anymore. The demon that attacked Tama that time was Naraku. And I don't think he's ever been stronger than a great demon. I think he fights dirty, which makes him...well..." He looked at Datsu. "You were scary, back then, but Naraku..." He shuddered. "He was fucking terrifying."

Tama looked down. "I get it..." He said.

Kagome shook her head. "But he's not as strong anymore because he's missing something important." She pulled the Shikon no Tama from her shirt, looking at it. "When Naraku was defeated first, he had part of this. Not a small part, either. Most of it. Inuyasha defeated him without much help..." She left her statements out. "But he died. Without this, his power should be much less." She began pacing. "The problem is, keeping the other demons' hands off it, too." She shook her head.

Datsu looked at Tarou, frowning, noting he was sporting yet another shiner, and was looking at the jewel with an odd expression. The great demon smacked his son on the back of the head. "I'm a match against the Great Demon of the South alone, but..." He shook his head. "Naraku, I do not know. We're going into this blind once again." He shrugged.

Kagome sighed. "I'm getting training to use my spiritual powers, and some aikido training as well, but I don't think I'm going to pose much of a challenge. I can project a small shield, and there are my spirit arrows, which always gave Naraku a bit of trouble..."

Tama looked down. "As far as I know, I'm pretty much useless in this."

Tarou snorted.

Datsu smacked the young demon on the back of the head again. "We can fix that, but I think I should speak with Kagome about my idea first." He glanced towards Rikan. "You're as useful as Tarou."

Koji piped up. "What about me and Yukino?"

Datsu looked at the two young children and almost frowned. "No, Koji, you and your sister will not be joining this fight."

The small demon jumped up. "That's not fair! Tarou and Tama get to go!"

Kagome walked to Koji and knelt in front of him. "But Koji, you have a very important mission." She said, her face serious. "You and Yukino will stay with my family and protect them, okay? It's very important that they don't get hurt."

Tama looked at the girl in surprise. Leave the youngsters with her family? Protection? He would have scoffed, but her face was quite serious. He mentally shrugged. Whatever.

Datsu nodded. "That isn't a bad idea." He said. He stood, walking towards his office. "Kagome, a word?"

Tama watched her stand and follow his cousin into the room. He would have gone to eavesdrop, but Rikan was looking at him. "Oi, what you lookin at?"

Rikan grinned. "Hey, let's go get Kagome something to wear that doesn't look like something a tomboy would wear." He shook his head, heading towards the door. He wanted to grill him about the pairs swiftly progressing relationship.

Tama snorted, standing, following his so-called-friend. "Jerk."

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Kagome sat in a wing-backed chair, waiting while Sesshoumaru made some phone calls. It sounded to her like he was tweaking his connections. He had contacted the other Great Demons, making them aware of what was going on. Then made several other calls, spoken in English. When he was done, he looked at her.

"So, what is this idea that you want to share with me?"

He looked her dead in the eyes. "Unlocking his demon blood."

Red eyes with blue pupils filled her mind, along with memories of Inuyasha in his demon form. "I don't know that's such a good idea."

"Tama doesn't have much demon blood, but it is the blood of a great demon." He saw the shock on her face and arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Aren't you the only canine Great Demon?"

"Yes."

"Then...he's your..."

"Indeed."

Kagome put a hand to her head. "I don't want to know." She said finally, shaking her head. "Anyways, I remember what happened to Inuyasha when Tessaiga broke. It wasn't pretty." She looked at her hands. "Besides, I think Tama should make the decision in the end. It is his body."

Sesshoumaru smirked. "I'm not talking about what happened to Inuyasha. I'm talking about giving Tama the ability to tap into that demon blood. He wouldn't be the first one I'd taught. In fact..." He almost smiled. "If his mother hadn't run off with that damn Gaijin, I would have trained her as well."

Kagome sighed, nodding. "It sounds like a good idea, but while you're training him, I'm going to Sengoku Jidai. I should do some more training as well." She stood, her face tired. Why couldn't she live peacefully, or at the very least, a bit more normally. She began walking towards the door.

It opened and Tama barged in, almost walking past her. He saw her there and froze. He saw her smile a bit, and opened his mouth, words spilling forth. "Dammit, Datsu, why the hell didn't you tell me you could make me stronger!"

"Because before I said anything, I wanted to make sure Kagome wouldn't object to a walking reminder of what happened to the last person she cared about when they crossed bladed with Naraku." 'Datsu' said, glaring at the boy. "Do you want my assistance or not!"

Tama looked at Kagome, seeing her eyes were calm, not troubled. "I don't know." He admitted.

Kagome looked him dead in the eye and spoke softly. "Tama, I think you should. If you can use your demon blood during a fight, then you'll heal faster from any wounds you receive. You'll be stronger, and faster. Besides..." She smiled at him. "Inuyasha is Inuyasha, Tama is Tama. Two different people." She headed out of the room and saw Rikan with an annoyed expression.

"Dammit, stupid Tama. Rushing back here because I tell him about that. So rude." He handed Kagome a bag. "We found something a little less tomboyish for you to wear."

Kagome smiled. "That was sweet of you two. Leave it here, I'm going to be gone for awhile." She walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Rikan asked curiously.

"Back to Sengoku Jidai." She said evenly. She heard a quiet gasp and saw Tama behind her, looking shocked. She smiled back at him, then looked at Rikan. "I have to go finish my training, and no one is going to teach me what I need to know better than Kaede, Miroku, and Sango." She said, smiling softly. She laughed softly. "Don't pout, you two. I'll be back when school starts back up. Inuyasha isn't here to keep me there anymore, remember?"

Tama twitched, then looked away. "I'll walk ya home." He muttered.

Kagome smiled, nodding. "I'd like that, Tama." She said.

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The walk back to Kagome's home was quiet. Neither of them made an attempt to break the silence, and idly Kagome wondered if he would miss her while she was gone. They ascended the stairs together, and walked towards the well house. Kagome glanced towards him, sighing. When they stood by the well together, she hesitated. "Tama...I'll miss you." She said softly.

He looked at her, his eyes slightly softening. He didn't speak, but hugged her carefully instead. He rested his head on her shoulder, enjoying the brief contact. He felt her arms go around him and chewed on his lip. He should say something, but he couldn't think of anything that didn't seem completely hokey, so he kept his mouth shut.

She pulled back, looking up at him. It was going to be a LONG few weeks. She paused, then smiled. "If you need to talk to someone, you know where to find me."

He smiled a bit. "Under that tree?" He asked.

She nodded. "And If I'm not there, I'll know when you are, so don't worry." She pushed herself onto her tiptoes, hugging him gently, then she swung her legs over the side. "I'll see you at school!" She said.

"Get a better attitude before then!" He teased.

She grinned, enjoying the playful banter. "That's my line." She dropped in and felt the strange sensation at the pit of her stomach that always came from using the well.

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"Miroku-sama?" Sango asked, searching through the forest. How had they decided that she would be named 'it', anyways? This game was ridiculous. She shook her head, thinking that they were too old for these games, anyways. Shippou was a kid, true, but she and Miroku were adults. She sighed, shaking her head. Suddenly, two hands went around her, one over her mouth, and she was jerked back into the bushes.

And onto Miroku's lap. Her face went scarlet and she struggled to get away from him, but could only do so much. He was actually pretty strong. For someone so skinny.

"Hello, Sango-sama." He said cheerfully. He arranged her carefully, keeping one hand around her wrists, the other one over her mouth. "Ah, the outcome I was hoping. You found me first!" He smiled, feeling her squirming like crazy and not minding one bit. He moved his hand from her mouth and put them both around her, holding her wrists so she couldn't hit him. "This is nicer than I'd hoped, Sango-sama!"

The jerk had planned this! Sango began struggling more furiously, opening her mouth to tell him off.

Lips touched her cheek and she froze. Her jaw hung just slightly open and she stared at him. "Miroku-sama!" She said, scandalized. She saw him just smiling contently and she felt herself relax a bit. "Sukebe." She muttered, although fondly. She relaxed, resting the back of her head on his shoulder.

"Why Sango-sama, you wound me." He said, smiling. The playful banter had begun sometime around when Kagome had last returned.

"Miroku-sama! Sango-chan!"

The voice caused the pair to almost grown. "Speaking of the devil..." Miroku mumbled, unwinding his arms from around Sango and moving her off his lap, so Kagome wouldn't come to the wrong conclusions. Or the right ones, Miroku hoped. He stood, assisting Sango.

Sango accepted the monks help and left the bushes, surprised to see Kagome wearing a far more cheerful expression than she'd last left with. "Kagome-chan!" Sango rushed over, hugging the girl. "How are you doing?"

Kagome smiled. "I'm okay. Just one thing, we've got to put a rush on my training." She gave them an exasperated expression. "Naraku's in my time, now."

The monk froze, looking at the girl. "You're taking it awfully well."

She smiled. "Let's just say I have some demonic help in great proportions. Inuyasha would roll over in his grave..." She shook her head. "I'll be okay, but I need to train, and fast." She saw the faint look on their faces and realized that she was probably taking this too well. She gave a half-hearted shrug. "Hey, what can I say, Sesshoumaru is training Inuyasha's future incarnate, and Shippou is helping him." She saw their faces and bit back a giggle. "So...about my training..."

Miroku shook his head, looking at Sango. It had been several months since Inuyasha had died, true, but Kagome had gotten over the whole deal entirely too easily. Then again, after how hard her life had been so far, she was probably numb. He gestured the girls to follow him back to the village.

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Tama walked back to the apartment, feeling rather lonely. He wouldn't tell that girl how much she affected him. She was just a friend, anyways. A good friend, but a friend. He sighed, wondering how long he could keep lying to himself. He hadn't felt this close to somebody in years.

"Stupid girl..." He muttered, walking into the elevator.

It felt like it was going to take forever before she came back. He sighed, shaking his head, pulling out his key and opening the door. A fist cracked across his face and he turned in shock, seeing a demon there. He moved faster than he could think to get out of the way. He cautiously sniffed the air, noting the place smelled like far more than just Rikan and the other demon occupants of the house. He looked at the demon, noting that it wasn't particularly tough. He could have probably taken it in his human form.

He relaxed, rolling his eyes. "Where's Datsu?" He grumbled, wiping a bit of blood of his lip.

Said demon walked in, looking at the demon at the door, then to Tama, who looked disinterested with the punch he'd just received. "You've returned. The girl made it back safely, then?"

He harrumphed, glaring at the demon. "Of course. You don't think I'd let her get hurt, do you?" He walked past the demon he assumed was guarding the door and looked at his so-called cousin. "What's with the guard?"

Sesshoumaru looked at him blandly. "Him? A guard? He's just got pent up anger for not being allowed into a meeting between three great demons." He said evenly. He looked at the demon, frowning at him. "He may leave now." He didn't elaborate, but the demon turned a ghostly sick color, and disappeared from the apartment.

Tama snorted, looking at his cousin. "Why don't all demon's do that?" He grumbled, wishing he could have a normal summer break like the rest of Kagome's friends. He shook his head, knowing that his life was NEVER going to be that simple again.

"Because they have no sense. All they have is stupidity...Inuyasha wasn't particularly bright." He almost smiled, yet saw no real reason to do so. "Ah, to return to when life was easier..." He began walking back to his office. "Tama, you will join us."

The boy sighed, shaking his head, wishing this stupid transformation was over with already. He ran a hand through his silver hair following Sesshoumaru into the room. The chairs were all taken by the other great demons, and so Tama didn't have a choice but to stand. He scowled at them, able to see his cousins mysterious guests for the first time.

Both had similar facial marks to his cousin, but one had purple hair and pink eyes, and the other had black hair and bright blue eyes.

"Tama, this is Tatsuko, great demon of the east, and Kouga, great demon of the north." Sesshoumaru gestured. "They are going to be...assisting with your training."

The boy snorted. "Whatever." He grumbled, already feeling irritable with Kagome gone. He really couldn't stand his cousin. Maybe this was leftover baggage from his last life, though.

Kouga glared from Tama to Sesshoumaru. "Oi, Dog-breath, I thought you said the kid was human mostly. This runt looks like Inuyasha on a good hair day." He scowled, leaning back.

"Urusen da yo." Tama snarled, cracking his fingers.

"This boy..." Sesshoumaru interceded, before the boy had a taste of what a great demon could do to him. "Is Inuyasha's reincarnated form. He is in his demon form until sunrise. I believe we should commence then."

"So thissss issss your blood..." Tatsuko almost hissed. She stood, pacing around him. "Well built, short, though." She looked at Sesshoumaru. "How much fighting experience?"

"I'm right here, you know..." Tama grumbled.

"He has been trained to fight since he was a child. His mother saw to that much." He looked at Tama, arching an eyebrow. "I suppose after the ceremony, we'll have to put it to the test." He saw the boy was getting annoyed and almost smiled. "Be grateful. It's not often that a partial such as yourself gets to participate in this. There has only been one line of your kind, Tama. Consider yourself lucky."

"How the hell do you know so much about my family anyways, you jerk." Tama grumbled, looking away.

"Who do you think you get that minuscule portion of demon blood you possess from?" He looked down, examining his well manicured claws. "You see, Tama, you are a part of my bloodline. I spawned a single hanyou child in my lifetime."

Tama stared at him, his jaw sagging. "WHAT!"

"Anyways, what are we going to do about that Great Demon of the South Jerk, Kimera?" Kouga grumbled, ignoring the boy's outburst. It annoyed him enough having to help his rivals reincarnation, but Naraku having returned, and Kimera turning on them really pissed him off.

"We will remove him from his position. I know of a certain fox demon who is ready to take on a little more responsibility in the demon world. The girl should learn how to strip his powers during her training and if she can accomplish that, then there will be no troubles." Sesshoumaru frowned, noting the glint in Kouga's eyes.

"The girl?" Kouga queried, sniffing the air. "You mean Kagome? I smell her. She's been here recently." He glared at Tama.

Sesshoumaru stood to his full height, towering over Kouga. "Cease and desist, Kouga. Kagome was here for her own protection. Her family shrine was attacked by demons. Her family will be kept in hiding until we deal with...certain things."

"Where is she now?"

"Getting ready for kicking ass." Tama said evenly, glaring at the 'great' demon who was looking at him like he was shit on his shoe. "She went back to Sengoku Jidai to train with her friends." He straightened, looking at Sesshoumaru. "Oi, Datsu, I'm going to my room." He grumbled.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Get a good night's sleep tonight, Tama, you'll need your strength tomorrow." He said quietly. The boy paused at the door, nodded, then left.

"That damn human better keep his hands off Kagome!" Kouga snarled.

Sesshoumaru slapped him. "Mind your tongue. You're in my home. It is the decision of Kagome and Tama if they wish to pursue a relationship. Besides, you're entirely too old for her."

Kouga grumbled. "I've known her longer than he has..."

Tatsuko rolled her eyes. "Kouga, you are a demon. Even if you love her, you'd out live her by very much, so if you truly care, you'd let her have someone with a similar lifespan." She looked at her nails. "Humans are...amusing when they are young, but they do age."

Indeed, Sesshoumaru thought, his eyes lowering. He had only one human mate. She had died shortly after giving birth. She had smiled and said she would die happy knowing she gave him a child, and that he should not use his sword to bring her back. That she loved him. He straightened, turning away from the other demons. "You may go." He said evenly.

He heard the other demons standing up, exiting his room, and the door close behind him. He put his hand on his desk and lifted the one replacement that had survived with him through the past century. Slowly, he put it to his face, his eyes closing. "Rin..." He said softly.

He'd managed to block out the memory for so long, and now it was back. Tama was a constant reminder that he had once, in fact, met a human so amazing, that he had taken her as his mate, and they had spurned a child that effectively ended her life. Yet, the memory of her death had been pushed back and smothered for so long, he thought he'd forgotten.

He hadn't.

The demon took a shuddering breath, straightening his back. Reminiscing would get him nowhere.

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Kagome panted softly, sweat beading and rolling down her forehead as she ran. She had started before the sun had begun rising, and now it was getting higher in the sky, having peaked over the horizon, several minutes ago. She paused, turning around. She began running back towards the village, taking a more dangerous path.

Vines and roots blocked her path, rising out of the ground, trying to trip her. Hey, if she could navigate this treacherous path quickly and quietly, there would be fewer problems when she returned to her time, where things were far easier to navigate, she should have no trouble keeping up with the others.

It took her over an hour to get back to the village.

Sango and Miroku were waiting for her there. They had grown accustomed to her morning run, usually waiting till well after sun up to untangle themselves from each other, to go help her train for yet another fight against Naraku.

"Ohayo, Miroku-sama, Sango-chan!" She waved, smiling brightly. She wiped some sweat off her head, aware how disheveled she probably looked. She saw Sango holding her sword, wondering what the days order for training would be. As she approached, Sango handed it to her. "Miroku's going to teach you something today. I think your fighting ability is good enough against any lesser demons. We'll start advanced lessons next week."

"Which means!" Miroku smiled cheerfully. "Your mine for the week. Don't worry, I know what pain and suffering awaits if I do anything inappropriate, both here and when I meet Inuyasha in the afterlife." He led Kagome away from the small village and into the forest, to the base of Go Shinboku.

Kagome froze as they entered the clearing. The boy sat there, speaking quietly to someone who wasn't there. "Tama?" She asked quietly.

He looked back and saw her walking with Miroku. He frowned a bit, eyes narrowing at the priest.

Miroku stared at him in shock. His eyes went to Kagome who was walking towards him. "Kagome, that's...?"

Kagome nodded. "Hai, Miroku-sama. This is Akuma Tama." She knelt by the boy, smiling cheerfully. "Tama, I'm sorry, I'm training right now. Do you think you could come back tonight?"

He frowned slightly deeper. "My training starts tonight." He said evenly. "This is the first free time I've had in a week." He said, looking away. "Stupid preparation crap..." He grumbled.

Miroku looked to Kagome and almost smiled. "Kagome, I'll meet you at the bone-gobbling well, when your ready to start." He bowed a bit, leaving the pair alone.

Kagome looked at Tama, tilting her head to the side. "Say, who were you talking to?"

He blushed, looking away. "No one." He grumbled, looking down at his hands. "Who was that?"

"That was Miroku-sama. He used to travel with Inuyasha and I when we were trying to assemble the Shikon no Tama. He used to have a air void in his hand, caused by Naraku. He's a priest, and he's recently begun getting lovey-dovey with my friend Sango-chan."

Tama snorted. "He's training you?"

She nodded, smiling a bit. "They're very precious friends, and Miroku-sama is a very skilled monk, while Sango-chan is a very skilled demon hunter." She looked down at her hands. They were covered in dirt and grime, and she realized how much of a mess she must look. "I must look terrible, I haven't bathed in days." She blushed, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Ya look fine to me." He grumbled. He looked at the ground, feeling strange. "Ne, Kagome..."

She looked at him, tilting her head to the side.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He sighed, wrapping his hands around his feet, and staring off into nothing. "Sesshoumaru said that the ceremony thingamajig was gonna be held under Goshinboku in your time." He said, glancing towards her. "Why there, anyways?" He began to rant, all the irritations since she's been gone finally erupting. "I'm so sick and tired of this, all I damn well want is to be a normal high school kid!" He drug a hand through his hair, looking at Kagome, who had a tiny smile on her face. "What's so damn funny?"

"I used to feel the same way." She said softly, running her hands over the grass. "After all, I was only just in my second year of middle school, and then I got drug here. I almost failed out a few times. The only chances I got to study were when we stopped traveling for the night and on those few opportunities I had to go home. Inuyasha never wanted me to go back to my time, so he'd try to keep me here." She laughed softly. "But you know what? I had an awful lot of fun at the same time. Funny thing is, I never thought I'd be here now." She leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling fondly.

Tama blushed a bit. He looked away, squirming a bit. Hearing her speak about Inuyasha again, it made him feel weird. "Oi, no offense, but could we not talk about him right now?"

She saw the uncomfortable look on his face and tilted her head to the side. "Tama?"

He didn't answer, just looked at the dirt. Suddenly, something warm and soft pressed up against his cheek and he glanced out of the corner of his eyes and saw that something was a pair of lips. Kagome's lips. He blushed furiously, his jaw hanging open slightly. When she pulled away, he stared at her, his face confused. "Kagome?"

She hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's okay." She said softly. "I understand, probably better than you think." She closed her eyes and felt his head rest against hers and smiled. They sat like that for a long time, till Tama's watch beeped, then he gently pulled away, looking a bit annoyed.

"Stupid watch..." He grumbled, then he looked at Kagome. "I gotta go back. We're going to start in about an hour, and I've gotta help set up." He complained, glancing away.

Kagome stood up, dusting herself off and offered a hand to him. "I'll walk with you."

"Why?"

"Because in spite of what you may think, this time is always dangerous." She wound her arm though his and looked up at him. "The demons here don't hide from the humans. They eat them." She saw his eyes widen and his mouth open to say something. She stopped him. "I'm used to dealing with them, and I'm perfectly safe. I'm allot better at fighting than you may think."

She saw the rather disgruntled look on his face and tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"I..." He muttered the rest so she couldn't hear.

"What is it, Tama?" She pulled him to a stop. She saw that he looked annoyed, an expression that Inuyasha used to wear whenever he was trying to say something that was difficult for him.

"Iwannaprotectyou..." He said quickly, refusing to look at her. "Not the other way around. I'm a guy, I should be the one who protects a girl." He glanced at her and saw a small smile on her face and turned dark red, looking away quickly. "It's wrong for the girl to have to protect the guy. That's the only reason I agreed to do this Datsu's way. I'm not gonna get caught off guard again. I'm gonna protect you..." He grew gradually more sure of himself as he spoke, and finally looked at her, a determined expression on his face.

Kagome looked at him in amazement. Tears filled her eyes and she threw her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. "Tama!" She cried, feeling him gently embrace her as well.

He felt her hands fisted against his back and rested his chin on her head. He smiled a bit, relief filling him. She hadn't rejected him. She wasn't turning him away. He sighed, relieved. Gently, he pet her hair as she cried into his shirt.

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AN: Well, another chapter down, hopefully only a few more to go! Love the fans, Hugs and Kisses to you all. Hope you're enjoying the story! Please Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8: Demon Blood

Completely Fubared

Chapter 8: Demon Blood

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AN: BLAH! My momentum is slowling down. It usually does about now. I am having mild troubles with this and a few other stories I'm working on. Please bear with me!

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Tama returned to his time, and saw several demons gathered at the tree. He forced a scowl on his face, walking towards it. He saw Sesshoumaru look directly at him and twitched slightly. "So, when are we starting this thing?"

"Momentarily..." He glared at the boy. "You were supposed to assist your cousins in setting up..."

"I had...business I had to attend to myself." He said, glaring at the much older demon. He saw the knowing look on his cousin's face and scowled. "What the hell should I call you now anyways? You're not my cousin, and you're name's not Datsu, so what?"

"In private, you may call me Sesshoumaru, or..." He snorted. "Grandfather. In public, I am Akuma Datsuzoku." He arched a fine eyebrow and grabbed the boy, dragging him towards the Goshinboku tree.

"How does this work again?"

Sesshoumaru got a wicked look in his eyes. "You'll just have to wait and see, wont you." Roughly, he tossed the boy against the tree.

Tama barely had a chance to draw a breath when the attacks began. Oh yeah, that's right. They were going to beat him up a bit, then those damn demons were going to taint him with their blood.

He stood there, taking it, till that filthy wolf-demon gave him a particularly hard punch to his stomache. Something cracked, and he collapsed, clutching his side. He glared at the demon, but saw the look on his 'cousin's' face and forced himself to his feet. 'That fucking hurt...I'm bleeding pretty bad right now...I hope this stupid ceremony doesn't kill me...'

That was the last thought he had. Sesshoumaru moved forwards, grabbing his neck in his clawed hand. "Tama...the time has come..." He roughly slammed the boy against the tree, and pulled a knife out of his coat. "Are you sure?"

Tama looked down at the demon. Hesitation? "If I could protect Kagome as I am...would I be here now?"

With a nod, Sesshoumaru lifted the knife to the boy's throat. "For all practical purposes, you will be legally dead for about three minutes. Tell me what it feels like." Then he drug the blade across it, spilling the boy's blood on his hand. He dropped Tama, then he drug the blade across his palm, spilling his own demon blood, before placing a hand over the gaping wound. He passed the knife to Kouga, who severed an artery in one of Tama's arms. He too, then slit his own hand and placed it over the wound. The other great demon followed shortly afterwards.

Sesshoumaru looked at his watch, then back at the boy, who's eyes were cracked just slightly, but rolled up in his head. He checked for a pulse and nodded. The boy was technically dead. The next few minutes felt like hours. This part was always a delicate process. It was a risky procedure, as most humans could barely handle the taint of the blood of a lesser demon.

This boy was recieving the blood of three great demons.

Suddenly, Tama let out a pained cry, fighting them, trying to stop the pain. It burned! He had no idea that the procedure would be physically painful! He felt Sesshoumaru touch his forhead and draw something on it with a sticky substance. He screamed. He had to make them stop! He was only human! He couldn't handle this!

Sesshoumaru and the other demons restrained him, while Sesshoumaru traced their family mark upon his forhead in his own blood. He began to whisper timeless words, that he had learned from a demon from another land. After all, in other lands, people like Inuyasha, like Tama, were not so rare. They were more feared than most demons, and often were taught to control their demon blood to their advantage.

Tama's eyes snapped open as the pain subsided and he tried to catch his breath. He saw the other demons were a short distance away. "Why didn't you...tell me it was going to hurt?"

"Did you think it would tickle?" He tilted his head to the side arching an eyebrow. "You did well, Tama."

"Why did you have to beat me up, first, anyways?" Tama asked as the great demon assisted him in sitting up.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "We had to bring your body dangerously close to true death. It would appear that you have my brother's stubborn streak, though, so I figured I'd just cut it short, rather than putting you through more pain than was absolutely necessary. Your wounds should heal quickly enough."

"Fucking Kouga broke a rib..." He pressed his fingers against it, and was shocked to find that there wasn't the least bit of pain. "Wow, that was fast..." He looked at Sesshoumaru. "What happened while I was out?"

"You died." The demon stood, brushing himself off. "I need to go was this blood off myself. Come along..."

"I'm gonna go see Kagome-"

"No." Sesshoumaru said firmly. "Until your training is done, you will remain beside me. Inspite of your rapid healing, you are very weak right now, and if the demon blood swallows your conscience, you will kill anything within your reach. It's a very dangerous time for you."

Tama opened his mouth to object, but Sesshoumaru drug him towards her families home and knocked politely on the door.

The door opened and a kindly woman appeared, smiling. "Ah, so is it over? We can't keep Grandpa locked up for much longer." She opened the door fully, allowing the demon and the very tired boy to cross her threshold. "That sounded dreadful, I hope no one calls the police..."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at the woman. "No one called the police, believe it. This shrine has a sizable barrier. I doubt anyone even heard the fireworks that just went on."

"Is that guy okay?" Souta peeked out, looking at the Inuyasha look-alike through wide eyes. "He's covered in blood..."

Tama straightened, not even wincing. "I'm fine, kid...I guess I should clean myself up, too." He looked towards the woman who was smiling at him. He twitched a bit. Silently, he wondered what Kagome and Sesshoumaru had told them about him. "Could you point me towards a bathroom?"

Kagome's mother smiled kindly, and pointed down the hall. "There's one across the hall from Kagome's room. Straight down the hall and on the left."

Tama nodded, walking down the hall while Sesshoumaru walked to the kitchen. After all, Tama had far more blood on himself that Sesshoumaru did, inspite of arterial spray.

Tama looked in the bathroom mirror and saw a crescent moon drawn in blood on his forehead. "What the hell?" He mumbled, dampening a wash rag and trying to scrub it off. When it was gone, he sighed deeply, beginning to wash away all of the blood. Was it true? Had he really died?

The boy looked in the mirror, noting the paleness of his skin, noting for the first time in his life he had small bags under his eyes. Maybe Sesshoumaru was right, he couldn't let Kagome see him like this. Having just died-

He rubbed his neck, then glanced longingly at the bath. What he wouldn't give. He quickly finished cleaning up and moved across the hall. He opened the door to Kagome's room and looked inside.

It wasn't what he imagined.

He'd always thought she'd have one of those frilly girls rooms, with stuffed animals all over the place, like the ONE girlfriend he'd had in the states had. But this...

Her bed was covered in a dark blue comforter, her sheets were light blue, and resting upon it was a HUGE cat. 'Buyo, huh...' He reached down, lightly rubbing the cat's stomache. He sat on her bed, looking around. It was a comfortable looking room, not overly large, like his, but not a bad size. It only had a single twin bed in it, and a desk, and a bedside table with a few pictures on it.

He leaned towards the pictures. The first that caught his eyes was one of a man with dark hair and Kagome's smile. He tilted his head to the side and moved closer to the pictures. "Family pictures?" He mused aloud, seeing one other that caught his eyes. It was one of him wearing a dark scowl, her leaning over his shoulder, smiling cheerfully. He smiled a bit.

He picked it up, and saw something flutter to the floor. He reached down and froze. 

It stared up at him, a picture of his previous incarnation and Kagome in the middle of a heated argument. It was obviously taken in one of those photo booths. Two of the pictures had been cut off, and he silently wondered what was in those two.

"You shouldn't enter a girls room without permission."

The dry voice at the door caused him to jerk in surprise and he suddenly felt like a no-good sneak. He saw Souta standing there, grinning at him. He scowled darkly.

Souta walked in, seeing the picture of Inuyasha on the floor. He bent down, picking it up. "Inuyasha didn't know how to stay out of trouble, he and Kagome always argued." He pondered something, looking at his hero's face. "I think my sister was in love with him..." He looked towards the older boy, who had an annoyed look on his face. "Sorry, am I bothering you?"

"Naw, that's not it..." No matter what he did, everyone was comparing him to this dead guy Inuyasha. "How do you know she loved him?" He pondered, looking at the boy for a moment.

"Because, my sister's a strong girl. I never saw her cry until...when she came home that time. Then, it was like her whole world had ended. She's only come out of it recently. I think it's because of you."

Tama fought off the urge to blush. "Keh, how rediculous." He growled, looking away from the boy.

"I mean, the day she came home from school, she looked...well, happy. For the first time in weeks, she was SMILING." He shook his head. "I miss Inuyasha, he was my hero, but I don't think he and Kagome could have actually been happy." He tilted his head to the side. "But hey, what do I know, I'm just a kid!" He laughed.

Tama looked at him, and smiled a bit. "You're smarter than you think, kid." He muttered. He reached over, and ruffled the boy's hair.

"So, did you really DIE? What's it like?" Souta asked in interest.

Tama facefaulted. "I can't really remember."

Souta followed suit. "Oi..."

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Kagome woke from her sleep with a splitting headache. Miroku's training was proving more trying than Sango's had been. Idly, she wondered how Tama was doing and wished he'd come back to tell her how his training went that day.

She suspected that Sesshoumaru was at least partially to blame for this.

She pulled her body out of bed, gathering her bathing supplies, and silently walked from the hut, heading towards the lake nearby. She really couldn't wait to go home and have a long, relaxing soak in her bathtub.

She went into the water, pulling out her loufa and beginning to bathe, wincing with each movement.

She closed her eyes, sending out several mental feelers. She wanted to be sure she was safe during her bath, and had several psy-flares, as she'd dubbed them, ready and waiting.

She didn't fully understand them, but from what she understood, when they encountered a demon's youki, it blinded them for quite a long time. She also had a few other new weapons in her cache, not the least of which was the ability to seal a demon's powers. The problem was the procedure was difficult, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to remember it precisely, which could be dangerous for all those with demon blood in the area.

Considering everyone she worked with had demon blood, that would leave them all pretty much defenseless. She didn't want to use that power unless absolutely necessary.

She relaxed, finally certain there were no demons dangerous enough in the area to cause her worry and she settled down to bathe. She closed her eyes remembering a few days ago, when Tama had told her that he wanted to protect her. She blushed, smiling. He's more like Inuyasha than he knows...but at the same time, they're completely different. Tama...seems much more gentle, softer around the edges.

She heard a twig snap and spun, preparing a flare quickly and releasing it, meanwhile, giving the person several zaps with her powers.

"Ow! Ow! Dammit, Kagome, it's just me!"

Kagome blinked, thankful for the small trace of demon blood in Tama's body. She lunged towards the shore, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself. "DAMMIT, TAMA!" She shrieked, trying desperately to hide her bits from him. The flares did wear off reasonably quickly, after all.

Tama blushed, catching the outline of Kagome's form as his vision started to return. "What the hell was that for!" He snapped, turning his back to her. Looks like she's got a handle on her powers, now. He almost smiled.

"Don't sneak up on a girl when she's bathing!" She snapped, quickly pulling on her clothing. "I could have seriously hurt you!"

"Hmph, like you could hurt ME." He looked towards her and saw her smiling a bit. "School starts back tomorrow...are you coming back today?"

"I have one day left to train..." She sighed, looking at Tama. He seemed tense. "Are you okay? How did your training go?" It had only been a week, but Tama looked exhausted. She was secretly very flattered that he'd come all this way to pick her up, even if he'd gotten a bit of a peek.

"It sucked." He said bluntly. "I died."

"You look pretty alive to me." She walked closer and saw a streak of silver in his once solid black hair and reached up, touching it. The stray hair was deffinately his.

"It was part of that fucking ceremony, just after that last time..." He blushed, remembering what he'd said.

She tilted her head to the side. "Tama? What happened during the ceremony?"

He watched her scoop up her stuff, and then glanced away. "Sesshoumaru told me that they were supposed to bring me to within an inch from death, and then they had to 'taint' me with their blood, whatever that means." He saw the surprised look on her face and then her eyes filled with concern.

She reached towards him, and immediately began mentally feeling for injuries. She brushed his mind and her face turned dark red. He was alright, that was for sure, and evidently, his teenage libido was active as Miroku's. "TAMA!" She shrieked, angry.

Tama looked down at the miko, wondering what he'd done to piss her off so much. "What did I do!" He backed away defensively.

She paused, realizing that he hadn't said a word, and blushed, angry with herself for invading his thoughts. "Pervert..." She muttered, quickly pulling the mental feeler back quickly before she saw more than she wanted to. She began walking towards the village and heard Tama following her.

"Why the hell are you calling me a pervert! I didn't DO anything!" He blushed, the memory of her slender muscular figure popped into his mind again and he looked away from her.

She blushed darker herself. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "I was making sure you weren't hurt, and...I caught one of your thoughts." She glanced towards him and saw he was refusing to look at her. "It wont happen again."

He blushed darker, and glanced towards her, meeting her eyes briefly.

She twitched. Well, this certainly was awkward. She lowered her eyes then glanced back at him. "I'm sorry I called you a pervert..." She offered lightly.

He snorted. "I'd already forgotten about it." He said roughly, looking towards her. "So are you coming back or not?"

She nodded. "I have to say goodbye to everyone here. She smiled. "I think I should also thank Miroku-sama for the flare trick."

"Is he the one who taught you that?" Tama grumbled.

She saw the annoyance on his face and smiled a bit, reaching over and sliding her arm through his, shyly.

He twitched. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to their linked arms. "Did you walk like this with your 'Inuyasha'?" Tama mocked softly, wondering if she saw him as the hanyou, or the human.

She blinked, looking up at him in shock. "What?"

"You were in love with him...It only makes sense that you'd walk with him like this." He said softly, annoyed. He saw the shock on Kagome's face and then, before his eyes, it turned into a smile. He forced himself to look away from her.

"No, Tama, Inuyasha and I didn't walk like this. More often than not, he put as much distance as humanly possible between us. Then again, he didn't love me...he loved Kikyou..." She glanced towards him. "Kikyou was my previous incarnation..." She smiled faintly. "I always felt like I was in the way for them...even if she was technically dead, she haunted him."

He looked away. It wasn't fair. "He sounds like a jerk to me." Tama snorted, looking away.

Kagome smiled at him. "He was." She agreed, then looked at the ground, still smiling. "But sometimes, he could be very gentle and kind, too." She lifted her eyes and saw a perterbed expression on his face and frowned. "Tama?"

"I'm sorry I even brought him up." Tama scowled, and jerked his arm free from hers. I'm not that fucking jerk! He mentally screamed, and began to walk in front of her.

Kagome blinked, then ran to catch him. "Tama-"

"Just drop it." He snapped angrily. "I don't want to hear another word about it."

She smiled faintly, then slipped her hand in his. "Baka..." She said affectionately. "You have nothing to worry about."

'I have everything to worry about.' He mentally retorted, glancing towards her. How was he supposed to ask her what he wanted to? Could he do it without pissing her off? Was it worth it? "Oi..." He began, looking down at her, uncertain. "Do you-" He stopped himself. "Forget it."

She blinked. "Do I what?"

"Forget it."

"Nope." She shook her head, smiling cheerfully.

He stopped fully, looking at her. She was so pretty. He stepped towards her, his hand cupping her face. It hurt to know that Inuyasha still had her heart. Yet, he had to ask this question, or he'd never feel at peace. "Kagome...when you look at me...do you see him?"

She stared up at him in shock. Was it possible? Could it be that her speaking so fondly of Inuyasha that he was beginning to feel uncertain about who she saw? Tears filled her eyes and she smiled gently. She walked towards him, putting her arms around him. "Tama, I'm going to tell you something that he told me once. He said 'Kikyou wa Kikyou. Kagome wa Kagome.'" She smiled at him. "Well, Inuyasha wa Inuyasha, Tama wa Tama. You don't need to worry about that."

"But...I saw that picture of him...we're almost identical." Tama muttered, uncomfortable.

"True, you DO look like him...but honestly? I think you have the potential to be much more than Inuyasha was." She blushed, looking at the ground. "Inuyasha was very strong, but...he had far more difficulty expressing himself. Usually, he resorted to violence, but he never said what he was feeling."

Tama looked at her, uncertain. "Kagome-"

Kagome heard him say her name and pressed herself up onto her toes, quickly kissing his lips lightly. She saw his eyes get wide and he froze, unable to say another word. She blushed, lowering her gaze as she dropped back down.

He stared at her in shock. Why? Why did she do that? He grabbed her wrist, pulling her against his chest and hugging her tightly. He pressed his face into her shoulder and bit his lip. Something inside him twitched a bit and he fiercly bit back the urge to roughly throw her to the ground.

Kagome felt him shaking and gently caressed his hair. "It's okay, Tama." She said softly, pulling back slightly. To her surprise, a crescent moon was glowing fainly on his head and two slashes had appeared on his cheeks. The demon blood?

He saw the strange look on her face and noticed his senses had sharpened. He cursed thickly, pushing her away from him, and giving her his back. "Come on..." He muttered, offering her his hand hesitantly. Evidently Sesshoumaru was right. If he had gone to Kagome first...then he would have hurt her.

Kagome looked at his hand and smiled, reaching her own out, wrapping it gently around his own. 

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AN: Yeah...um...Tama's such a PERV! Smacks him Hmph. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Now that the training's done, I hope I can do something fun...I dunno, like putting some smack down on Naraku's evil, and now female, ass! 


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